Two weeks of trials....

Our first two weeks here in Florida have been nothing but stressful.  The kids excitement had built over two weeks time, as the car was shipped, the bags were packed and we were ready to embark on this 5 month journey South.

We board the plane, and take off from Reno at 6 am, landing in Vegas at 7:00 am due to a mechanical issue.  As all attendants had to reroute 200 passengers, we were not able to get out of Vegas until 4 pm, landing us in Dallas around 10:00 pm.  It was midnight before our heads hit the pillows, and thankfully the girls rolled with the punches of the day fairly well.  We woke in the morning, headed to the airport, only to end up with delays at take off due to a storm in the area.  We finally arrived in Tampa at 3 pm the next day...whew.  My hope was that this was the only issue we may face during this transition.

Not true!  We spent a few days with my Aunt and Uncle in Southwest FL, which was very nice, and then headed north to central FL...an hour north of Orlando.  I was very excited to get settled in the house we rented for 5 months, in a town called Tavares.  This home was only 10 minutes from therapy, which was perfect for homeschooling Nora.

We arrived, opened the door, and saw geckos scattering for cover.  Ok, a gecko got in...no big deal, right?  We keep moving forward...checking out the house with the kids.  Before too long, we find a gecko skeleton in a back room, dead roaches next to that same bed, and gecko feces scattered throughout the home.  Very disheartening and disgusting.  After an hour, we let the landlord know that there was an issue that needed to be handled here.  I then took a shower that evening, and after 5 minutes of being in the shower, I got out and picked up my clothes off of the rug, and a gecko ran out of my clothes.  UUgghhh.

We asked the landlord to come meet with us at the house within the next day or so, and he never responded to meeting with us.  He said he would have an exterminator come over, nevertheless, exterminators do not get rid of geckos...repairing all access points on your home does.  I now have learned that he doesn't even believe me that there is a problem with the home, and is accusing me of making this entire story up!  If he would ever meet with me or take my phone calls, maybe he would not judge my character as such.

We then spent two full days looking at places to stay and found a new place to reside.  That home was just not safe for Lila who falls all day long, and puts her hands/face in gecko feces.  The risk of her getting sick during this therapy session is high, and we don't need to expose her to salmonella from gecko feces in the meantime.  So, we finally found a place to stay, even though we had not heard from the landlord yet.  We thought, "There is no way someone wouldn't understand this and not give us our money back (rent for 5 months)".  Well, there is a way...we have moved and he is now refusing to give us this large sum of money back, which came out of Lila's fundraising account to make this trip happen.  UUgghhh, I can't even believe this is happening, as we even told him to keep a months rent and cleaning fee (we only stayed for 2 nights).  So, now I am having to take this further and we have a friend, whom is a real estate attorney, involved.  Sadly, I think this is going to have to be taken all of the way through until the end.  The amount of money he is holding totals an entire month of therapy for Lila!  I am sickened by all of this, and have never in my life been in such a horrible position.

After all of these happenings, we find out that we have to brace ourselves for a hurricane!  We are in Apopka, which was just on the outside of the hurricane's eye.  I had heard something about it early in the week, but just took it lightly.  Then Nora and I went into the store on Wednesday to get her a night light, and people were frantically asking for propane lanterns, and water.  At that point I thought, "Well, maybe we better get on board and follow their lead".  So, water and flashlight it was.  We went to Target for the lights, and the entire flashlight/lantern aisle was nearly empty, along with the water/bread/soup aisles.  Seems as thought this was more serious than I thought...haha!  After spending two days preparing for the storm, it hit with high winds and on and off rain.  We got lucky with the severity, just didn't have power for much of the day, and crabby, hot kids.  We have survived the storm, and I hope I can survive the storm of this landlord as well.

Anyway, the place we have found is a two bedroom condo, and is 25 minutes from therapy.  This travel time is making it difficult for me to school Nora, so I am going to try something different this week...the coffee shop :-)

Ok, I am exhausted of these happenings, and will write more later.  Any advice is appreciated....
mariak_2198@yahoo.com.

Cheers,
Maria