Monday, July 13, 2009

We be livin in FLA, baby!

Before I watch my substitute for church today, Les Miserables, I thought I would get everyone caught up on our adventure in FLA.

Four months ago we pulled up in a sixteen foot Penske to our new home on Venice Island and were greeted with not much enthusiasm. Our neighbors, ranging in age from 62 to 87, stared at us with a look that said, “There goes the neighborhood.” We thought our moving crew, ranging in age from 58 to 72, would be goodwill ambassadors for us. The verbal altercation by one of our crew members with one of the neighbors at the elevator negated any opportunity for peace. Our neighbors are funny people though. They’re always telling us the rules. I guess that’s because we keep breaking them. I was eating almonds at the pool and this lady who was swimming popped her head up and said, “There’s no eating at the pool. I thought you’d like to know.” She then put her head back down and went back to swimming. It’s interesting. They like to tell us the rules, but no one ever introduces themselves. Kristi is so awesome though. She put our phone numbers and address on small pieces of paper. We then went door to door to hand them out and told them that if they needed anything to give us a shout. But that was probably all negated as Kristi ticked off Poppy. Poppy is an interesting lady. I don’t think she’s been hugged in a while. She gave me a tongue lashing because Kristi decided to move the cone to the parking lot entrance and park on the newly sealed lot. Kristi said she’s going to attend the next condo board meeting and apologize. Not apologize because she feels bad about what she did. But apologize because she wants to be mentioned in the board minutes.

The condo we’re renting is really nice. We’re right on the intercoastal and only a mile from the beach. The only bad thing I guess is the constant eviction of the baby lizards we come home to on a nightly basis. It’s always a process. I would just let them live here, but Kristi has a problem with our visitors crawling on the walls. We also have had a few run ins with palmetto bugs. I don’t know who came up with that name because they’re really just gigantic cockroaches. The other night I chased one around the condo with a hammer. I won. We sometimes ride our bikes to the beach to watch the sunset. So beautiful! It’s unbelievable that night after night the sun sets and not one is the same. So beautiful! Did I say that already?

Our work situation is…interesting. I’m a dishwasher and Kristi is the busgirl. It’s cool though. We really love our work family. Nicky Blue Eyes attends anger management class because of the restraining order that was issued against him by the mother of his child. They watched The Burning Bed in class the other day. I told him he could have saved his two grand and watched it on the Lifetime network for free. We also work with a deadhead, an enabler, and two old curmudgeons. We have a really good time listening to all their drama. I think that’s what helps me get through the day. I guess it helps me keep things in perspective by being thankful for our lack of drama.

Our church family is awesome! We only had to visit two churches and bam!, we found the one. One of the many reasons we love it is because it’s small. We actually were able to have dinner with our pastor and his wife the other night. Pastor Tony is an incredible teacher! You can listen to his sermons at http://www.gcbcfl.com/Teachings/Sermons.htm if you feel like checking it out. We belong to a Life Group and they’re really cool. We’re playing Ultimate Frisbee on Tuesday with them instead of our regular meeting. I’m really excited about the lesson plan change!

We visit my parents three to four times a week. They’re only a ten minute drive. It really has been nice having family around. That’s something we haven’t been too accustomed to living in Atlanta. I guess as you get older you realize how that’s so important. I’ve had the opportunity to learn a bunch about my dad’s childhood and interests. It’s been pretty cool. He’s been having the normal chemo reactions and lives pretty much cooped up in their condo. Test results from the CAT scan and PET scan will be available on Tuesday.

We want to let you all know that you are terribly missed. We think about you a lot and look forward to our next visit with you all. We made a video of Venice a few months ago for my cousin’s school class. If interested, you can view the three minute video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvrbgOf_N_A .

With much love,
Jim and Kristi

4 comments:

Lora said...

hi guys! i enjoyed reading about your adventures. i know y'all are bringing a lot of life to that place. :) miss you! lora

Mike Copeland said...

Hi Jimmy Jangle,

We miss you here in the ATL but enjoy reading your adventures. Keep updating us. Stirzi said he even enjoyed watching the video. Catch you later.

Copee

Cara said...

hi
glad to read about your adventures and loved the video of your time with Flat Stanley
missing you
The Harper's

Heather said...

love reading about your life there in Venice! Thanks for the laughs! We found a "palmetto bug" just last night in my mother in laws big pan that I was going to use to cook with. Fun times!

Seriously though we are praying for you guys and look forward to when we are closer and can have you guys over to hang out!

Praying for you and the family!