Thursday, April 19, 2007

What happened while I was on vacation?

We came home from Florida on Monday, and through some great weather miracle, the temperature in Minnesota was almost the same as Florida. It was 75 degrees! When we left Minnesota, waaaay back on April 5, it was 12 degrees in Minnesota. I was also updated by everyone when we called home for various reasons, that it was snowing back home, that it was freaking cold, that we all sucked because we were in Florida, etc. But somehow the weather made it easy to come home so it wasn't such a shock to our systems. Thank you, God, for that!

In the meantime, I have been trying to catch up with all that is going on in the world since we left. I made a decision that I was not going to watch or read any news, other than the weather, while we were gone. My reasons are many, but mainly, I have a screen addiction I am trying to break. Yes, I am addicted to the television and the computer screen. I can't get anywhere, or get anything accomplished while there is a 'screen' in operation. The world would fall apart around me and I would be sitting on my couch watching grass grow (golf), or be on the computer trying to find out if I could make money at home racing cockroaches in my kitchen, or any other nonsense.

I also was not about to get caught up in the whole negative media feeding frenzy that happens because I was on vacation with my son and my "hubby" (we aren't married on paper, but we are in every other way) and I wanted to spend time with them and have fun and let the rest of the world take care of itself for a couple of weeks.

So, for 11 glorious, wonderful days, I didn't have a clue until I came home that the world went to hell. There was the whole "Don Imus Incident", then the continuing war in Iraq and the standoff in the government about whether we leave or send more troops or what. Larry Birkhead won the Anna Nicole Smith Baby Lottery. Then a crazed lunatic shot and killed 33 people at VA Tech before turning the gun on himself. I haven't turned on the television for more than the weather since I came home.

But the kicker was when I checked my answering machine and there was a nice message from the Sherburne County Sherriff's office that there have been a rash of home burglaries and car thefts in our area and if we see anyone suspicious or someone comes to the door selling something or are there and we didn't ask them to be there, to call 911. Nice. Welcome home.

Suffice it to say, we did a thorough sweep of the house and grounds and accounted for everything. We talked to our landlord and suggested better locks on the doors. We also are going to update our renter's insurance policy and inventory all of our valuables. We should have stayed in Florida!

10 comments:

Sandy Lender said...

You are always welcome to stay in the cardboard box next to mine here on the beach, Baby!

;)

Bwuahahahahahaha!
Sandy L.
"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."

theauthormike said...

If you are going to inventory your place, get or rent a video recorder and go from room to room. Zoom in on jewelery plus get appraisals for for the good pieces. I went thru that once before. And while you are talking to the insurance agent, tell them that you want replacement costs. An old vcr might only be worth $10 but to replace it will cost you a lot more. Thankfully we had that and got a lot of new video equipment that we could not have afforded otherwise. Mikey

thewriterslife said...

Welcome back home, Laura!!!

Jeni said...

Glad you are back, kid. And also, that you had a really great vacation and got to meet our new, soon-to-be-very-famous author, the fabulous Ms. Lender, in the process!

Laura M. Crawford said...

Sandy, darling, I'll bring the fuzzy blankets so we can cuddle, ok? And knowing you, it will be the most beautiful cardboard box on the beach! You have style, sweetie! HUGS FROM MINNESOTA!

Laura :)

Laura M. Crawford said...

Thanks for the advice, Mikey. We have a camcorder, so that won't be a problem. We will just have to remember to add that to the list! And Jen and FFG (Dot), thanks! 'There's no place like home!' he, he! I couldn't resist!

Laura :)

Bill said...

I just wanted to stop by and say hello.....it is nice meeting you and getting to know you.

Bill

Henri de Montmorency said...

I'm afraid it won't do any of you any good if I just happen to fly into town and there's Coors Light in the fridge. However, leave a few unopened bottles and I'll protect your house like it was my own. *grin*

Jeni said...

And, just in case you are bored, have nothing to do with your "spare" time (Yeah, I know - what spare time?) here's a little meme I just tagged you with. Pick it up at your leisure my dear from my blog!

theauthormike said...

Hey Doll, Don't know if you go anywhere specific just to watch people or not, but I love to go to bowling alleys and airports. Most people don't even know that you are watching them and they are really being themselves. A friend of mine and I went to Tampa Airport and ran from gate to gate kissing goodbye. Some were shocked, some laughed but we had a blast.
Thanks for the well wishes, just taking life one day at a time.
Mikey