Did I just see an alligator?

Wanna know what happens to a pool after just five short days of not being cleaned? Well, we'll show you in pictures.

Here's the pool on Monday morning...


and then Tuesday it's looking significantly worse...


here's Wednesday...


and Thursday...


and today (Friday).


Um, it looks like the Okefenokee Swamp landed in our backyard! Did I mention this growth occurred in a matter of FIVE DAYS?!!?

So the short story about our backyard science experiment is Sanford and Son (our slumlords) decided to turn off the swimming pool cleaning equipment on Sunday because the contractor who installed the pool did a shoddy job and will need to replace the concrete surround and perhaps more (long story - won't go into it now). Instead of paying for electricity to clean a faulty swimming pool, they decided to cut the power completely. We have no idea as to when this issue will be resolved. Rest assured, we'll be sure to share regular updates and photographs because why keep all this beauty to ourselves???

(Oh, and note to Stan: Sanford's junk pile has grown. Did you send him some free stuff???)

As always, we're sending lots of love and hugs across the miles...the girlz

Why can't you just LIKE it?!?

Are you familiar with the show "House Hunters" on HGTV? This show follows a family, couple or individual as they search for their perfect home, whether it be a house, townhouse or condo. The show introduces the viewer to the family/couple/individual in their current (most of the time, cramped) apartment/condo/house as they're asked questions as to what they want in their new space. Most want more storage, some want a yard for their dogs, others want a garage, some mention their desire for a "man cave" (yes, oddly enough that's the term used), most want a larger bathroom/kitchen/master bedroom/foyer/etc. Then the show videotapes them with their realtor visiting three potential homes as they wander about the space making comments all the while. "The bathroom is kind of small," or "The kitchen is dated," (that's a common comment) or "Are there hardwoods underneath the carpet," or "I have a foot cramp," (just kidding). And then, after they've seen the three possibilities, they choose one on which to make an offer. Sometimes the couples disagree as to what features are most important in their future home. In fact, during last night's episode the wife actually snapped at her husband, "Why can't you just LIKE it?" in reference to a home she loved and he wasn't too fond of. Charming. It's times like those when you get to witness, through the magic of television, true love.

It's part game show - "Monty, I'll pick what's behind door number two please" - and part voyeur's dream as you watch these people attempt to make an enormous decision as to which home they want to purchase. Sounds exciting and intriguing, yes? Well it is to us, especially since we're beginning our real-life House Hunters "episode."

That's right, Lucky and I will begin the house hunting process today. Unfortunately, I'll be going solo (well, it'll be our realtor and me) since my girl will be at work during the day. Our hope is that I'll weed through the homes/condos we know we're not interested in purchasing and narrow the search down to a few possibilities. And then Lucky will join me in our house hunting quest as we make a decision together.

True, there will be no camera crew following me, but you can bet I'll be making comments as if there were.

As always, we're sending lots of love and hugs across the miles...the girlz

Watching the sunset with the one you love: priceless

Our trip to beautiful, gorgeous, sunny Florida was beautiful and gorgeous, but not so sunny. Well, let me rephrase: it was sunny for about one-third of the time. Or maybe even one-half. Definitely not three-quarters. More importantly and unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy some the time. But it was lovely and beautiful nonetheless.



Aside from eating so much seafood, donuts and birthday cake that our shorts no longer fit comfortably (thank god bathing suits are so stretchy!), we pretty much relaxed the entire time on the gorgeous, beautiful white sands of Florida's Emerald Coast. Rain or shine, we were on the beach. Except for when the rain was coming down so quickly it caused flash flooding. But other than that, we were on the beach, listening to the sounds of the waves crash against the shore, people watching, napping, reading, napping some more and doing more people watching.

Speaking of people watching, this family entertained us for hours. Here's a picture of the dad burying his son in the sand. I'll let it be known, the son asked to be buried, not once but twice. Both times his wishes were honored. And both times, the parents seemed content to drink their beer as their son struggled to release himself from his sandy deathtrap.



Another highlight was teaching Lucky how to play shuffleboard. Prior to this weekend, she had no idea how to play. Now that she is versed in the ways of shuffle boarding, there's no turning back. My girl is a shuffleboard champion. Check out this posed action shot. (As you can see, we were able to squeeze our butts into those shorts, but just barely.)





By the way, I'm quite certain my girl would've beaten every single one of these competitors in a shuffleboard competition. Perhaps in her next career she'll be a shuffleboard hustler. She's got skillz. I'm just sayin'.



What we realized during this trip was how much we fit in with the, uh, silver-haired crowd. We enjoy eating dinner early (especially if it includes an "early bird special"), we enjoy driving slow, we enjoy playing shuffleboard, we enjoy volunteering for projects, we love talking about and hearing about what life was like "back in the day" and we love the look of wraparound sunglasses. If that's not a recipe for success in a retirement community, I don't know what is.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures of our birthday celebration trip to Seagrove Beach. As always, we're sending lots of love and hugs across the miles...the girlz






Oh yeah, one last thing. My girl got a tattoo for her birthday. See the finished art in the picture below.

Flo-Rida, here we come!

Today we're heading to Florida's gulf coast to celebrate my girl's birthday. Woo HOO!!! Check back next week for pictures from our adventures!

Love y'all...the girlz

You gonna toss that? I'll take it off your hands.

Like every well-read, well-written blog, it's important to have a theme or some sort of cohesive idea to keep the readers coming back for more. For us, it seems as though our theme has shifted in the past couple of months. We've gone from a what's-happening-in-our-lives blog to a what-the-hell-are-our-crazy-slumlords-doing-now blog.

Remember that funny little situation comedy from the 70s called "Sanford and Son" about a junk collector/dealer dad (Fred Sanford) and his son (Lamont)? (Yeah, we're too young to remember, too - but we've heard stories.)

Well, we live above Sanford and Son's garage.

You see, when we moved into our treetop mansion, there were small piles of junk here and there - a pile of rotting lumber underneath the deck, a half-finished fence, a few containers filled with dead plants... But we overlooked them. The slumlords were in the midst of renovations and hadn't quite finished these projects, we thought. Surely these projects will be completed soon.

But instead of finishing the fence, planting the numerous pots of shrubbery, mixing and pouring that half-opened bag of concrete - instead the slumlords just start a new project or buy a new yard ornament or order more gravel to add to the growing mound of rock. Sometimes they move the junk to another spot in the yard. Sometimes they add to the pile of broken concrete, rusty metal and broken car parts in the driveway.

Just last night one of the Sanfords told us they got a really good deal on a canvas gazebo to go in the yard. They're not sure where they'll put the gazebo or if they have space for the gazebo, but it was on sale.

They have a two-car garage, but one side is so FULL of stuff, they are only able to utilize half of it for vehicle storage. But that's only because one of the slumlords drives a Beamer convertible and, in our neighborhood, it's a good idea to park that sort of car in the garage as opposed to on the street.

Anyway, back to the unfinished projects.

So the weather has been lovely in Georgia these past couple of days - mid-70s and beautiful. Definitely warm enough for us to open the windows and welcome the fresh air into our treetop mansion.

But we can't open our windows because we don't have any screens and we don't want a flying bug convention (remember our "no kill" policy?) in our apartment - which means it's stuffy and warm in our apartment. Good times.

So now we've resorted to begging and pleading to our 70s sit-com wannabes:

Please, please, slumlords, install our window screens. Please give us a storm door. Please clean up the yard and move stuff out of the driveway. Please!?! We're begging you, FINISH YOUR PROJECTS SANFORD AND SON!

There, I feel better now.

Curious to see the junkyard? Well scroll below for the beautiful view awaiting us each and every day. I'll give you a tour.


Here's the view from our living room window. I was able to stick my head out the window to give you a better view - one of the positives of not having any screens. Notice the junk under the steps and the unfinished fence boards propped up against the neighbor's fence.


and here we have the same view, except the wheelbarrow is upright and the hot tub (maybe?) has been tipped on its side.


Moving along the side of the house, here are some lovely deck chairs sitting amongst toppled trash cans. Fancy!


This picture was taken from the top of our steps overlooking the underside of our deck. Wonder where that window will be hung...and will it have a window screen?


And here we have a black, sludge-y mosquito pool, complete with dead plants and nearby trash receptacle.


This is the driveway. Recognize that trailer? Yep, it once held our washer and dryer hostage.


In case you wanted a closer look at all the junky goodness.


The BMW gets to park on the left side. The right side houses all of Sanford and Son's great buys!


And finally, our little junkyard overlook.

Thanks for taking a stroll around our place with us. Updates will follow, I'm sure. Until then, we're sending lots of love and hugs across the miles...the girlz

Spring is less than three weeks away, and yet....

Look what we experienced on Sunday - SNOW!!! Lucky compared the falling flakes to giant white puffy Cheetos falling from the heavens. Thankfully our winter wonderland was short-lived, but it was gorgeous while it lasted.

We're sending lots of love and hugs across the miles...the girlz