Boy, am I anxious to head south!

This past weekend we were with our good friends, the Conklins. A couple weeks ago they purchased a condo about a mile from ours (in Sun City Center, FL). This next Monday they’ll hit the road with a trailer full of furniture so they can “move in” to their new place. All our talk about their plans made me anxious (and a tad envious).

John and I have some commitments we agree we must attend in September (a family dinner, my class reunion, a performance, and a meeting), so we will hang around until October, but I’m counting the days until we can leave. I think John will also be more than ready to take off. By October he should have been able to pick his grapes, and maybe even be able to get the leaves off the lawn. One way or the other, we’ll take off then.

This will be the first time we’ve headed south with the plans to stay six continuous months. Leaving October 2nd means we’ll leave when it’s moderately warm. We’ll be there over Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, and both of our birthdays. When we come back in April, it’ll be cool, but hopefully past the snow season.

Packing will require a lot of forethought. I will need to think about things like holiday decorations and clothes for multiple seasons.

Since I’m sure we will follow this schedule next year as well, we may as well transfer stuff to Florida permanently. We do more entertaining and partying in Florida so there are a lot of things we can use for those purposes. It’s silly to get to Florida and not have things which would make life easier. Therefore, as I think of things I try to write them down. My list keeps growing.

When we left Florida last April, I had vowed that I’d be able to get by without hauling many clothes back and forth. My plan was to create a wardrobe for Florida and one for Michigan. I’d leave clothes in each location so there wouldn’t be much to pack. But I’m realizing that isn’t such a good plan. If I have fashionable clothes, I want to wear them, before they’re out of style (or I out-grow them). Therefore I’m bringing back a lot of my Michigan summer attire. I’ll even bring a moderately heavy coat (but no snow boots). Last year we had such a frigid January/February in Florida, that I learned that I need some fairly warm outfits and I wore that coat a few times when it was really brutally cold.

In the past, we’d head south in September but we were back in November. I was able to plan for a shorter increment. If I forgot something, it was only two months before I could get it. Of course, last year we did stay from the end of Decmber until mid-April, but we were already well into Michigan’s winter when we drove down, so it was easier to think in terms of that season.

John’s not a planner. It falls totally on me. I make the lists.

So I check and re-check. Everything we take is “my” responsibility.