Good Thing They Weren't Elephants

No photos for this post.  It wasn't a pretty sight. Today I checked on some of the rooms which had not been occupied recently.  One never knows.  Unit #3 looked ok on cursory inspection, but when I checked the bathroom, in the shower corner I found a bunch of black dots & smudges.  I also found them on the clean bath mat, and later on the carpet by the door. 

It didn't look like insects or rodent poop, so I had the DH check it out.  He was convinced that it was indeed an invasion by a herd of mice.  There was a hole in the floor of the shower where I saw the biggest concentration.

On reinspection, I found the nasty evidence in other places.  The foil stove top liners were chewed, there was poop behind the toaster and around the sink.  I spent an hour in there, cleaning and recaulking the shower to at least plug up the obvious entrance.  Then I set 3 strategic traps.  This is war!

Thank god they weren't elephants or the poop would have been over my head.

Proud Mama

Here's my DD Danielle receiving her Bachelor of Science degree with top honors from Flagler College.  I was privileged to be there as she was honored with the award for being valedictorian of her graduating class.

Kudos to a woman with such determination that she held down two jobs, raised a family and still managed to earn her degree with excellence.   She is an example and an inspiration to women of any age that if one desires something with passion then one should go for it.

My Winter Escape

I've escaped!!  Well, not completely.  These photos are of a vacation rental I took for the month of December.  I was there the first 4 days of December then had to come back to the DB to take care of some business.  Going back in a couple of days & the DH will join me for the weekend.

The deck is very private and the stairs at the back lead to a rooftop deck with an ocean view.  From the sliding glass doors I can see my own private jungle & I think I'll stick a Christmas tree out there.  I'm not really into Christmas these days, but a tree will look festive.  The place is a little spotlessly clean doll house.  A tad dated, but it has everything I need and is close to the DD and family.

Oh!  Let me bitch for a moment.  I'm paying big bucks for this little get away & when I went to the office to ask about inviting my family to  come into the park and have dinner with me, I was told I'd have to pay $5 a head.  I'm outraged.  I understand the need to monitor the comings and goings, and I would agree if they were overnight guests, but I'm going to have to pay everytime I have someone stop by That's just wrong.  I paid the $20 to have my children to dinner, but that's the last time.

Because I feel it's wrong, I refuse to cooperate.  The DD lives in the subdivision across the street, so I will run a shuttle service in my own vehicle.  I'm reminded of the old drive-in movie days when we used to hide extra people in the trunk.  I won't violate the park policy of no more than 6 people visiting a site, but I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $5 every time my grandkids want to stop by after school.  I want to have my family over to decorate the tree and have dinner and no way am I paying $30 for 6 guests to visit me for a couple of hours.  Arrest me, throw me out.  Fat chance.

On a positive note, my first few days of relative aloneness were worth the price of admission.  I slept late, shopped, walked, read, cooked and reveled in the pure pleasure of a solitary existance.  I did what I wanted, when I wanted and answered to no one.  I had nothing to do but please myself.  The escape was so worth it and I can't wait to go back.