New Quilt

 As of late July, Bliz is a new grandma! Unfortunately, in late July I was in no position to sew anything. I know this because I tried. However, with the creative studio set up in our new home, I made this for baby Lala. 

  

Mystery Solved

Karen was the house with the round hedges. Fortunately, she was standing outside in front. Also fortunately she only invited over one other person. 

I had a nice time. And I'm grateful to be included as the "new girl" in town--been in that situation before where it wasn't this social. Instead, it was lonely and depressing. Someday I hope to repay this kindness and be the local Neighbor Karen or Corona Debbie and welcome the new girl with open arms. 

And now I'm off to introvert for the next few days. 

Silly Social Anxiety Problems

I have a dilemma. Neighbor Karen (who is delightful--and I also happen to like the name Karen) has invited me over for coffee today to meet a few of her friends. I suspect I'll be the youngest person there by about 15 years. Plus, I don't drink coffee, but I'll deal with that hurdle later. 

My problem is I don't know where she lives. She's been over three times, each time pointing in the general direction across the street, indicating she lives somewhere that way. I've narrowed it down to four possible places. 

The Sunshines this week have been cautiously peeking outside, looking for signs of Karen or Karen's brown car. None of us are any closer to solving this mystery. "What about that house?" Marty said, pointing to the home with the two palm trees. "I think Karen is the type to have rounded hedges. Maybe?" I counter, gesturing to the one two doors down. 

About 1:25 today, I'm going to have to start knocking on doors and hope she answers. Or hope that the other three neighbors I haven't met are friendly and maybe one of them will help me out. I mean, if I know Karen after less than two weeks of living here, they must know her too, right? 

I Live in the Suburbs

 

So these have been posted in the past twenty-four hours on the ol'e FB neighborhood page. I've spent the last hour researching what plants repel bears. The answer is none. The best I can do is buy copious amounts of wolf and mountain lion urine pellets--the experts suggest both, just to be extra-cautious. Marty is simply being unreasonable and isn't on board with us spending money on gallons of animal urine.  

By the way, I've borrowed these photos. The sightings took place on the next block. Others posted them on social media. This is a public service, even if the pictures have been strategically relocated to this blog.   

Arbitrary DeBary, Sunday Edition

Last night three of the four Sunshines and three of the three animals were awakened around 3 a.m. when the back yard motion light flickered on and off. Then, there was a terrible screeching that lasted about 20 minutes. Luna growled, revving to get out the door. The Overlords took center stage in front of the sliding door, watching the ruckus. We looked outside a few times but saw nothing. And from the sound of it, none of us wanted to venture into the back yard. 

"Think it is a couple of birds?" Marty asked. No. I did not. First, most birds around here are diurnal and are sleeping at 3 a.m. Second, whatever it was, jumped over our fence into the retention basin behind us, to continue the brawl. So, bigger, meaner, and the creatures had knees.

We never figured it out. But I'm pretty sure it wasn't a human. 

Perhaps a bobcat? 

Do bears jump fences? Asking for a friend. 

***

Another rock and roll church

Buck and I visited another church today. He liked the vibe better. I liked the fact there was less singing--the pastor actually played the electric bass. The folks were nice. There appears to be a young adult group (the reason Buck is coming with me, I'd just find a Catholic church or Church of Christ at this point.) and several family-friendly events. I did not like the fact the pastor's sermon went--and I'm not making this up--37 minutes. We put this one on the "we'll visit again sometime" list. 

***

It's a busy-ish week in the Sunshine house. We are getting a refrigerator delivered tomorrow. The existing one that came with the house... I'm sorry. I just can't. 

Also, we are finally getting our flooring installed on Tuesday. We knew this day would eventually come. The former owner poorly installed peel and stick tile in two rooms. We had budgeted for new flooring. Once we get the flooring in place, we can unpack more boxes. But first! Floors. 

***

Polly and Sherman broke up. I'm sad for them as a couple. I'm sad for them individually. I like Sherman. But, I'm happy Polly made a confident decision about her future.  

Road Trip

A Polliwog on the beach

The Sunshine crew took a minor road trip yesterday. We went to Daytona Beach. As road-trippy as that might sound, Daytona Beach is about 25 miles away. In fact, as the crow flies, I live closer to the ocean than I do to any major theme park. 

     A future beach bag or two. 

While we were in the area, I wanted to check out an upholstery fabric store. I'm looking for water resistant fabric to try my hand at making a beach bag or two. We hit up the Buc-cee's because... reasons. We also made it to Trader Joe's. I must say, it was a great experience to actually go into a Trader Joe's and not stock up on five of everything.* 

Of course, it didn't feel right to go to Daytona Beach without a visit to the ocean. None of us felt like hanging out on the beach too long, but we walked a bit, enjoying the lack of tourists. There are a few galleries, museums and quilt shops I hope to check out in the area. So, I'll be back. And if I can go without the young adults, I can skip the Buc-cees.  

*I'm realizing how differently I shopped in rural Texas and how mainstream it became. A trip to a big city: Little Rock, Dallas or Shreveport once every five-six months and stock up on much better priced meat, spices, and the more unusual items we like. The prices were always much cheaper, leaving us to buy milk and bread locally--which were about $1.00-$2.00 more expensive in Texarkana. The produce at the grocery store wasn't great either, but fortunately, I had connections to better quality veg. I didn't mind the lifestyle and it was nice to go out of town with a family member or a friend for the day to get the shopping done.  

Arbitrary DeBary

Sandhill cranes live across the street. Its fun to see them, not hear them. However, aside from a couple of cottontails, a hawk and an unfortunate snake sighting from late July, that's about all the wildlife I've encountered. I've been told there's a lot more out there--including several neighborhood bear sightings. 

***

We don't have kitchen chairs. I have zero idea what happened to them in the move. They weren't left behind. They didn't arrive in Florida. If you happen to be driving along Interstate 10 and see six farmhouse chairs on the side of the road, hit me up. 

Oh yes, I'm also waiting for the rest of my dishes because they also didn't make it to Florida and I bought half a set last week and got a rain check for the rest of it. 

***

I cannot explain this, but I'm having to sleep under a wool blanket at night. Our AC is set reasonably high, so it isn't that we are freezing ourselves out. It is just cold in the house at night. 

***

Our unpacking is at an impasse. We are waiting on flooring for two rooms before we finish unpacking those rooms. At that point, we'll get furniture for the empty rooms. We are waiting for one cabinet from Amazon AND the hardware for another cabinet (the seller keeps asking which hardware we need and I keep responding, "ALL OF IT.") before we can finish unpacking the kitchen. 

***

The Fur Mafia is having a field day exploring the new house and all of the half-opened boxes ("Any idea where the air fryer/purple towel/Dad's socks/frisbees happen to be?" "Check that box over there."). They both want to go outside, but the hawks are laying in wait. So are the bears. They are making the best of their incarceration. 

The Murder Mystery Book Club

After a bit of tomfoolery, the Murder Mystery Book Club had its first meeting. The tomfoolery was brought to you by Victoria, the group's founder, who did not realize when she told us to meet at the Dunkin Donuts on Howland Boulevard there was more than one location. When the majority of us went to the wrong one, we were unapologetically directed to drive another 15 miles to her location. 

Anyway, Victoria started this entire group. She's a severe woman who just turned 80 and has lots of rules and opinions. One of her edicts was to set the five of us down and explain how book clubs work. 

HOW BOOK CLUBS WORK

• This would be a murder mystery book club. 
• All books must have 300 pages or fewer.*
• There'd be no chit-chatting until after our meeting was over, because we'd be focusing on what we read.** 
• The person "hosting" the book club (location to be determined) would be responsible for finding and distributing the books for the next book club. 

Which brings me to Victoria's opinions. I pushed back on one person finding six copies of next month's book, driving all over the county to hunt down the book club member to ensure the woman received her copy. "That's how book clubs work," she insisted. "I think we are all grown adults. We can find our own book." I countered. This is a hill I'm willing to die on. I won't be responsible for another's participation in a voluntary event.  

Apparently Victoria has never been challenged on anything in her life and did not appreciate my mutiny. But with the other four on board, I won--though, come to think of it, I could have distributed copies of The Redeemed (which is a murder mystery***) and forced them to read that.  

Victoria also stated that "there wasn't enough time" to read a book for September, so therefore, we'd start in October. One of the more timid women whispered to me, "But, there's three weeks left in September." And I pointed this out to the rest of the group, suffering Victoria's glare. But I did acquiesce, perhaps we could meet October 1 if that would give everyone enough "time" to read our first book. 

What I found as the meeting went on was that the other four were whispering to me when they didn't agree with Victoria, expecting me to be the mouthpiece. I didn't mind. It's going to be my book club too (at least that's the current plan). I suspect we'll all find our place. I just didn't want to be responsible for scouring the planet for someone's book when they can go to the library and get their own book club book. 

The Thursday Murder Club is the first book. Oops. It just so happens it has 364 pages.  

Now then, I am making Victoria out to be a bit of a dictator. She was. And me being the youngest in the group did nothing to work into her good graces, but she'll get over it. Or she won't. (I don't know why she made a big deal about my age, but she stopped the conversation and said only to me, "How old are you? 45?" And when I shared my age, she accused me of fibbing.) But she also took feedback from the lovely--LOVELY--group of ladies and once she calmed down, Victoria was quite pleasant, interesting and funny. I made sure to thank her profusely for putting this together, which seemed to soften her up. I also started a group chat, which wasn't too difficult but the rest of them seemed impressed. 

Lest you think this was an unpleasant experience, it wasn't. It truly was a lot of fun. However, I noticed my social meter was in overdrive and it took more than a quiet hour watching the rest of the Diamondback's game to reset. I've met many Victorias. She moved here in the past year from New Jersey, then lost her husband. She wants friends and connections and doesn't know how to go about doing it. My personal feeling is that the group will form organically and whatever unreasonable expectation Victoria wants will would be mutinied by everyone else over time so that this will be everyone's murder mystery book club. 

*Most murder mysteries are more than 300 pages because of the nature of the genre. 

**Riiiigggghhhhtttt. Tell a group of women they can't "chit-chat" and see what happens?  

***I didn't mention I write books. 

Speed Dating Churches

One of the many aesthetics
at the Alliance Church

Our neighbor, Karen, (that's really her name, and she's delightful!) invited us to her church. She went as far as to call a few folks, and tell them to be on the lookout because it was a holiday weekend and she's out of town. That's okay. I really didn't want to be led by the nose while Karen introduced me to 36 strangers. 

Intricate stained glass
above the stage/pulpit.

So, Buck and I went to the Alliance church. I have mixed reviews. Neither of us are interested in a rock and roll church, which this one is. We found out it was "hymn Sunday" which meant standing for a half hour, singing while electric guitars and a keyboard accompanied us. It was also "Communion Sunday," which, to these two Catholics was unheard of--as Communion should be every Sunday. 

On the plus side, the people were nice and the pastor's message was interesting. They also offer a book club, an active young adult group and a few other interesting community options. So, there's that, but there was no Texarkana Church of Christ energy. 

Buck is looking to make friends. I asked at the Catholic church if there was a young adult group (there is not). So, this is why we ventured out. I'm not sure this is the place for me. Buck's on the fence and said he'd get back to me. However, the rock and roll vibe was a bit much for both of us. Fortunately, about three others around here have also invited us to their churches. 

Settling In

Across the street. And not bears. 

We slept in our own beds in our new house last night. Though we are still tripping over boxes and what-not, it was a fabulous experience to be surrounded by the familiar. In fact, to celebrate our new dwelling, there might have been some cat shenanigans around 2 a.m. that included a race around the master bedroom, ending with the two jumping onto the bed and rolling around my feet until they were summarily removed from the room.

Oh yes! There was also Luna growling and barking at the top of her lungs around 3 a.m. like zombies were attacking. I told her to go back to sleep and hoped there wasn't a snake outside. Today I discovered bears live nearby and like to patrol. They have zero qualms about jumping the fence into the back yards. Bears. BEARS! Somehow snakes aren't as scary. 

So sweet!

So far the neighbors are friendly and fun. I'm told by several folks this is a great street to live on. There are a lot of kids around here--which I love. This past weekend, cute twin boys (probably age 7) brought us chocolate chip cookies. We intend to return the plate and the favor with something homemade--once we get our house up and running. 

Speaking of getting the house up and running--I'm single-handedly keeping Amazon afloat by purchasing cheap storage containers, trash cans and curtains. Lowe's sent out a wellness check expedition because they hadn't seen me in 25 hours and obviously something must be wrong. Surprise! We'd gone to a different Lowe's the day before. This did not bode well for the three folks--all I'm on a first-name basis with--whom missed me terribly. I felt like I was two-timing on my Lowe's location. And let's not forget, Capital One! Their CEO thanked me for my generous contribution to his child's European Study Abroad program this semester. 

I have my first play-date next week. I answered an ad in the Next Door ap from a woman who is starting a murder-mystery book club. We all meet next Monday to discuss how to set this up and what to read. Though I'd love to be self-serving and suggest Elaina Harper's latest book (coming out September 22), I'll let that pass. My last book club didn't even know I wrote books for the first two years I was in it.