Two weeks from Monday we’ll be taking off for Florida.

I’m famous for my lists and this is when my obsession really makes things easier. I have a list of “stuff to do” so that everything works. Without lists I’d be lost. Things like remembering to forward our mail, turn off our newspaper and our Wall Street Journal delivery, insure our Florida car, switch our phone service to Florida, re-set the house thermostat (and change the battery in it so the furnace will work while we’re gone). My list keeps growing. I also prioritize the items so I know when I must do stuff. Some of it is critical, and other things just make life easier.

My packing list is being perfected too.

I just crossed off “bring a live Christmas tree”. I had thought we would take a Michigan tree to Florida and put it up as soon as we got down there. Now, thinking about it, I’m realizing that neither John nor I should be around live trees. I have severe allergies to spruce trees and with John’s IPF he doesn’t need the exposure to molds and allergens. So I’ll see if it’s possible to buy an artificial tree and decorations when we get down there. A week before Christmas, prices should be low, if I can still find what I want.

Sun City Center is NOT a shoppiing mecca. We have a Walmart Super Store, two dollar stores and Beall’s (where they have great clothes), but that’s about it. There’s shopping just south of us in Ellenton (where there’s an outlet mall), and north of us there’s Brandon with a huge mall, but the traffic there is horrid year-round so I can’t imagine what it would be like a week before Christmas. Guess we’ll take our chances.

Later:

I found a lovely artificial Christmas Tree today and would have bought it, but it was a Goodwill and there was another lady who wanted it badly. I saw it first, and it was mine, but in the spirit of the season, I let the other shopper buy it. Sometimes I wish I could be pushier because now I wish I’d bought it! It was 7 1/2 feet tall, spruce with some artificial snow on the branches. The box was marked $200. It was like new. The price was $45. I won’t find another deal like that.