Put It In The Attic!

We leave for Hilton Head on Sunday, so I have spent the day preparing for the trip. I wrote a huge check for the heating and air people so that they can install the new unit on Monday. (Still, not holding my breath.) They're going to put it in the attic. This is a genius idea since nothing in my attic got wet. Of course, there wasn't anything in my attic. DUH!!! We had the Christmas tree up there with the other decorations, but when I took it down, I decided that it would be much easier to move it two feet to the hall closet. How great would that be next year when it's time to put it up? Turns out, not so great. Who knew the Harpeth River would come in and flood the hall closet? I try not to think about the ornaments we lost. They went all the way back to my childhood. Maybe, now that the heating and air unit is in the attic, I won't forget I have one. The next time it rains that hard, I'll take all of our valuables up there. When we were gutting the house, my friend, Tiffany asked, "Do you have anything in the attic?" "I don't have an attic," I told her. I think my cousin, Jeff, thought I had lost my mind, because he was standing right under the pull down door. We checked, and sure enough, the attic was completely dry, but there was NOTHING in it! Live and learn!

At least it isn't that hard to decide what clothes to take on vacation, because I don't really have a lot of clothes. Turns out, you only need a couple of casual outfits and one nice outfit for church and weddings. The girls each had to take an extra pair of shoes on the youth retreat, so one pair could get wet. Extra? We all share one pair of tennis shoes! I guess I'll have to get socks and shoes when winter rolls around. The flip flops I got at the Red Cross shelter probably won't cut it, but they'll do for now, and they're perfect for the beach! One small problem has been finding a bag to pack in. I guess, since we're driving, and not flying, grocery bags would do. Once everyone decided what they were taking, there were some suitcases left for us to borrow. It will take a while to re-build our collection of clothing, shoes, and suitcases, but as one of my new favorite country songs says, "this ain't nothing time can't erase and money can't replace." I'll just have to remember to keep all of these things in the attic when we do replace them!