Busy Bee Suz – a little bit of this, a dash of that & a whole lotta snark

Without A Hitch, Aside From Tired Feet, Being A Party Attendee & Gratitude Abound.

Thank you all for the empathy in my last post where I was completely frazzled by the upcoming deliveries, set up, and general chaos of moving stuff back into our rental condo. IT WENT SO SMOOTHLY. I was losing sleep over it all and it turns out that worrying DOES help. I mean, would it have gone so smooth without me worrying?

I had no complaints from any neighbors about parking issues and no traffic jams that I was aware of. (mostly because I didn’t go ‘out there’; what’s the phrase? Something about burying your head in the sand?) The Coach and I stayed at the condo from Thursday to the following Friday when I said: I MUST GO HOME. I NEED ORDER. We have it (as of Sunday) about 85% finished. I’m awaiting a few small pieces of furniture and I need to pick out a piece of art for the dining area. I can attest that I am not as young I used to be; moving and settling into a fourteen hundred square foot condo didn’t sound like THAT much work, but man, my feet were killing me mid-day even though I wore my most supportive, comfortable Sneakers from the moment I hopped out of bed. The dogs were a pain in the ass with all the people coming and going, but I expected that. Aside from the deliveries, we had electricians, painters, carpenters and our project manager in and out daily working on the punch list.

Remember I was worried about the State Of things Packed Up So Quickly after the hurricane? Well, things were better than I’d anticipated. All of our dishes made it, even without being ‘wrapped’. They, along with our glassware were in a plastic tub and I only lost a few stemmed wine glasses. Which, isn’t anything really since I don’t spend a lot on wine glasses because isn’t it fun to toss them at the wall when you’re requesting a second glass?

One surprising and amazing thing did appear. My cordless Dyson vacuum, which I love, was in a tub, mixed with some random stuff. I pulled it out and that baby didn’t miss a beat. It was ready to go. I mean, it’s been in a tub for FOURTEEN months and the battery was still charged.

We’re still looking for a newer home to replace our current home AND this condo, but considering how exhausting this was? I might just die in our current home because moving 26 years worth of my crap seems too daunting.

Christmas Is Happening!

Saturday night we had our company party and it was a beautiful success! In the past, I was in charge of all things Party. This year, I started it by securing a venue and date, and the entertainment, but then Lindsay, and two other employees handled the rest of it. Wow. What a joy going to a party and NOT WORKING a party. They did a fantastic job and I was happy to pass on the Party Torch. The company has been on a hiring spree (so much business happening!) so we had almost 150 people at the party this year.

THANK YOU!

I won’t have time to post again prior to Santa’s arrival, but I do want to share my utmost appreciation for all my friends who show up here, drop in a line or two; you make my day, my week, my year. YOU ARE MY GIFT.

I have this overwhelming feeling of gratitude for my family, friends, and my life in general. I wish I could share it with every single person I encounter, because then there would be less ass-hats roaming the world. Right?

Merry Everything! XOXO

How Much Concealer Would It Take To Cover My Current Worry Wart?

I have much to do, and many things I’m worried about, so why not put them on the blog with the hopes that they can be squashed?

Last Thursday the Coach started feeling crummy. He left work at one o’clock on Friday and proceeded to sleep close to twenty hours. His chief complaint was that his throat felt like it was lined with shards of glass, even drinking water hurt. He called the TeleDoc on Saturday: Strep Throat.

I’d already vacated our room for the guest room, but man, if I catch his plague who will take care of us? I was feeding him three meals a day. THREE. He was down for days and it takes A LOT to take him down.

Writing this on Wednesday morning, he’s feeling better and KNOCK ON WOOD I’m still healthy, which is incredible but doesn’t mean I’m sleeping well. Worries, I’ve got a few. I worry over shit that might never happen, but why rest easy when there’s a possibility of doom?

The Beach Condo Saga

I have three rooms of furniture being delivered by Pottery Barn on Friday to our condo, which is fantastic. Here at our house, in the big metal garage we have lots of stuff that was salvaged from the condo after the hurricane. It’s mostly stored in twenty seven gallon plastic tubs from Costco.

When the hurricane hit, I was tucked nicely into our place in GA on a preplanned trip, so after the storm and before I arrived home our amazing friends from the East Coast (The Calvary) arrived with Coach and removed anything that was salvageable, (towels, clothes, light fixtures, ceiling fans, TV’s) before mold set in.

They labeled the tubs with wet stuff so I could launder and store for later. That was all good and done in October of 2022. But you know what? All our kitchen ware-silverware, pots/pans, glasses, plates, etc, were placed into storage tubs AS THEY WERE FOUND. I mean, not cleaned. I peeked in a few tubs and things seem to be ok, but my new dishwasher is about to have the time of it’s life as everything needs to be sanitized. Hopefully most everything survived as they didn’t have proper wrapping materials for all the glassware.

In addition to all the storage tubs that need to be transported, I’ve ordered some chairs/barstools/rugs/vanity mirrors, all stacking up in various garage spaces. Coach had the idea on Monday for me to call a professional mover so we don’t have to move it all from our house to the condo ourselves…I mean it would take about 4 trips according to my brain.

‘How many tubs did I think we had?’

I thought we had about 10, but when I went out there and counted, reality hit me in the face: TWENTY SIX full tubs, plus lots of stuff not in tubs and a dryer. We def need pros because not only trying to load this stuff in his truck and my SUV (which would only fit 2 tubs at a time) the trek from the parking lot of the condo to our unit would kill us. Spring Chickens we are not!

I’m so worried about the movers and PB showing up at the same time in the there-is-no-space-in-the-parking-lot. I’ve been fretting since Monday about this potential traffic jam. PB won’t give me a time frame until Thursday afternoon and I’m crossing my fingers they don’t overlap.

I also have a dilemma/worries about Saturday as I have Mattress’s coming, Arhaus bringing the dining table, Best Buy bringing a new washing machine, and Comcast coming to wire up our internet. Will they all come at the same time? Should I serve them lunch? Cocktails? Do I even have cocktail glasses?

Coach had the brilliant idea for us to just stay at the condo for as many days it takes until it’s all unpacked and set up. Me: Yeah, that would be best or else it will take me weeks piecemealing it and I’m running out of time. Our renters will be here just after NYE, and next weekend we have a big holiday party for our employees and then I’m pretty sure Santa is arriving.

Then my mind went on a spree; currently there are no shades on the windows to sleep in privacy. I’ll have to tack up beach towels temporarily. Crap! I don’t have tacks! Oh, I don’t even have a broom to clean the floors. And the list of things went on from there.

DEEP BREATHS

Maybe my current dilemmas are not relatable, but who wouldn’t stress over SO MANY THINGS happening at once? While all this is going on, I will deal with Two Little Frenchies; they’re also going to lose their marbles with all the comings and goings.

MEDICATION FOR EVERYONE!

Thanks for listening

XOXO

Your friend Suz, who is in NEED of a CHILL PILL or three.

Fake {name} Friends, Simplifying My Christmas, And Feeling The Spirit In The Smallest Dose

Have you dreamed of your virtual friends? I have and I do. I mean, as if I don’t already have enough sleep issues without YOU invading my sleep, but this is out of my hands.

This past week was super fun; I was receiving mail/packages from some of you.

Get Out Of My Dreams, Get Into My Car

Who loved that 80’s tune?

Anyhoo, my friend Nance sent me a huge box. Inside was a jar of strawberry preserves, and another box that contained huge strawberries. I mean, giant like the size of Shaq’s basketball shoes. BEHEMOTH. And then some books, some papers and STAMPED RETURN ADDRESS ENVELOPES. Get this, the return address had her REAL name and address. Nance: I thought Nance was your real name, but it isn’t is it? BARBARA! The return envelopes said Barbara SomethingOrOther Last Name.

At first I was disappointed to know you falsified your name, but the strawberry gifts softened the blow. But what the heck would I do with all the strawberries? They aren’t even my favorite berry.

Then Ally made an appearance. She sent me some letters and I’m not sure if there were gifts because things are getting fuzzy, but Ally isn’t Ally’s real first name either. I mean, according to MY dream, which we all know is All Telling.

There have been others in the past and it’s a fun surprise to visit with my Around The World Friends while I’m getting my beauty rest.

Passing The Torch, and I’m No Scrooge

Back in September while in GA with my MIL, I was lamenting to her that I didn’t know how I’d find the time to decorate our house this year. At that time, I’d scheduled all the furniture/bed deliveries for our beach condo (decimated by hurricane Ian) to be delivered the weekend after Thanksgiving) That weekend is generally when I decorate our home, which takes two days minimum. I went on to say, I wouldn’t even decorate if not for us hosting Christmas Eve for the family.

My MIL is nothing short of brilliant. Without missing a beat, she said: “Now that Lindsay has a house, why don’t you ask her to host this year?”

A lightbulb the size of Gibraltar went off over my skull, we called Linds then and there and she agreed to host this year. *sigh* Passing the torch is hard for me, so I’d like a blue ribbon or a plaque stating so, but I’m excited to let her do this.

Will I go to her house and leave my shoes in the middle of the floor? Will I drop my purse on the kitchen island in the middle of everything? Will I turn on every light and open every cabinet door without shutting them? Maybe, because dreams are made of such things. 😳😜

*I’ve since had to push the furniture deliveries back a week. It seems that even sleeping with your contractor doesn’t help these days.

On 12/1 it was time to tune into some Christmas Tunes on my Sonos system, then I pulled a few decorations out of my Christmas Cabinet that is located in my craft room; stuff I won’t store out in the garage because of the heat/humidity. No Christmas tree for thee, but I did buy a giant Poinsettia from Home Depot and placed in UP HIGH away from plant eating Frenchies in the Christmas tree spot. This will work for us this year.

I almost didn’t make cards this year, but yesterday I took a half an hour and threw a card together online. I worried that if I didn’t full-on decorate AND send out cards, the world would spin off its axis and we’d all be doomed.

If you have a few minutes, this is the best Christmas commercial I’ve seen in a long time! Grab a hankie (or your shirt sleeve) and a kettle ball.

Anyone else minimize your decor and stress this year?

Raise your hands if you’re blog friends have visited you during sleeping hours.

XOXO

^{pic borrowed from Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com}

Thanksgiving Recap, And Help Me Answer The Age Old Question: Why Am I So Weird?

We had a perfectly lovely Thanksgiving holiday. The Coach, the pups and I arrived in GA the Thursday prior to Turkey Day. Our family: Lolo Lindsay, Lindsay’s beau Mike, his daughter Lillian, Lolo’s dog Max, (Nathan couldn’t attend this year) Coach’s dad and his wife Judy all arrived on Tuesday and were able to stay until Saturday. Thank goodness there isn’t one ounce of drama in our family, because we only had fun.

After we picked the fam up at the airport, we stopped at Buccee’s for shits, giggles, and a sandwich. Linds got a group selfie and this weird guy throwing his hands up photobombed us: THREE TIMES!

I wanted to holler at him that I’d just met my long lost family after looking for them for 20 years and he ruined our pic, instead I just stood there with my face squished up, thinking he’d leave.

Cue the Thanksgiving montage:

Me Not Talk Pretty

On Saturday evening, before the last of our family departed we stopped at a little restaurant on the way to the airport; it’s in a small town, near our home that we frequent. As I was walking through the parking lot, I caught the eye of a woman also coming in; she looked at me in surprise:

Suzanne?

Heather?

It was a friend I went to high school with and I’d not seen her in person since maybe 1988 when I styled her hair for her (first) wedding. Years ago, we were Facebook friends, but she was always on and off the FB depending on her mood. The last time I’d been in contact with her, she’d moved from where we grew up on the East Coast, to a town about 40 minutes north of us on the West Coast of Florida.

You know when you run into someone and you’re not in your own town, your own element, it’s always more surprising. Right?

What popped out of my mouth?

Oh My gosh! Hey!

Wait, WHERE AM I?

She was with three other people, so that makes FOUR people who thought I’d lost my marbles and all sense of geography.

I’m such an idiot.

Turns out that she and her husband had just purchased a home in the area, which is pretty cool and more proof that I’m a trend setter.

I told them what ‘hood we purchased our home in.

Heather pointed to the woman with her and said: This is my realtor.

Me: Oh, cool. My Aunt is my realtor. (immediately thinking: WHO CARES?)

Heather’s Realtor: Oh, nice. What is her name?

Me: Oh, you wouldn’t know her, she’s mostly retired, but does stuff for family and friends. (Why did I bring this up to begin with?)

I revisited that conversation no less than forty times in the next 24 hours.

I almost look normal. Right?

Could you spend five days with six visiting family members?

Do you think I’ll ever get over asking those people WHERE AM I?

XOXO

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