Florida

We’ve been in Florida for almost 2 weeks now. I was concerned that my anxiety would act up with all of the stresses of the past month, plus acclimating to life in Florida. But, so far, so good!

It helps that we have all of our pets with us. It wouldn’t feel like home without them. It’s also possibly helpful that I didn’t get a chance for our new house to feel like home before we came to Florida. I still kinda miss it, and I’m looking forward to getting to work on making that house ours when we get back there in April.

The weather is also definitely helpful. It’s been in the single digits in Wisconsin. We’ve had some chilly days in Florida, but nothing THAT bad. So, I can’t say I’m missing Wisconsin all that much.

Rental

Our rental is nice enough. It’s clean, but not too clean that I feel bad when a pet has an accident (I clean up the accidents). We moved the couch and chairs around in the living room to make more sense to us. We also covered them in blankets so that pets are less likely to make messes on them or fur them up.

We were supposed to have bikes, but they took them away because they were too rusted. That was a bummer.

Stairs

I always thought I would want a two-story house, but just 2 weeks into staying in one, I’m annoyed. It doesn’t help that staircase is long. I’m always forgetting something when I go up or down the stairs, so I have to walk up and down more often than I would like. But, it’s a good workout, I guess?

Pool

We have a small pool in the back of the house, which we’ve paid extra to have heated while we are here. Jeff loves it. He’s already used it a couple of times. I’m looking forward to using it once it gets a little warmer out, which should be this week!

There is also a cute little table under the roof-covered portion of the patio. We’ve had dinner out there and I’ve even spent some time out there writing (I’m glad to have time to work on writing again!).

Orthodox

I’m not sure why, but there are a lot of Orthodox Jewish people staying in this rental community. Jeff and I have seen them all dressed up when we are out for walks. I also saw a lot of them at the clubhouse pool. I only know they are Jewish because of their attire (men in suits and yarmulkes, women in dresses and skirts).

I learned that Orthodox Jewish women even wear skirts when they exercise. At least the ones I have seen on my walks do. I also saw a kid’s yarmulke fly off his head and into the grass. That was amusing.

Venturing Out

Aside from hanging out by the community pool, eating at the clubhouse, and making some grocery and supply runs to Target and Wal-Mart, we haven’t ventured out very much.

We did go to WaWa for food one day. That was underwhelming. It was more of a “womp womp” for us. They don’t serve burgers until 4 pm. Jeff was displeased. We tried to get dinner at Checkers one night, but they were closed by 5 pm. Likely due to a lack of staff.

Costco Business Center

We traveled out about 30 minutes to go to Costco. We found out it was a Business Center. Costco Business Centers are disappointing. They lack most of the things we wanted (specific beverages, apples, cheese curds, deli, and the quick-service food. It was a bummer. I love getting apples and rotisserie chicken from Costco.

Universal

We will hopefully head to Universal Studios in the near future. Hopefully, we can get an annual pass and go like once a week or so! I’m craving the butterbeer!

Florida So Far