Full of fail.

That's the short short version of How My Trip To Florida Was.

Not a complete disaster, but I wouldn't call it a rousing success, either.

The whole flying routine, fine. Got through that on the way to Florida with no problem. Uneventful flights are good.

My parents bought a house in Florida, a foreclosure house. Sad for someone else, but a boon for them. The downside is that it has been empty for a year, is filthy dirty, has overgrown landscaping, and a myriad of problems that come with a house that has been empty for a while.

This was a working vacation for all of us; solve the problems with the house that could be solved in a few short days, celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday, and then back to the grind.

Ha.

Ha. Ha.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Riiiight.

The universe had other plans.

The running around necessacary for the party was accomplished with no problems. Minor issues at the 'new' house, solved easily. Landscapers contracted, the gross kitchen scrubbed within an inch of its life, and the 90th birthday was lovely.

We got my grandmother a digital photo frame, which we loaded with family pictures from her wedding day up until last week. Don't tell me about being "too old" for technology; my 90 year old grandmother LOVES the digital frame, and can operate it with no problem.

My parents have a house they've been renting in Florida. We stayed there, as the new house has no furniture. The new house does, however, have electricity, running water, and air conditioning, a fact that will be relevant to the story later. The rental house is a furnished 3 bedroom affair, a nice place. They were unsure, when they initially retired, if they'd like the whole Florida vibe, so they rented in the begining.

We came back from Grandma's birthday party to find 4 inches of water through the entire rental house. Everywhere. We sloshed through the house, in complete disbelief. We were gone for 8 hours; a pipe in the laundry room burst, and we have no idea when that happened, but it leaked long enough for the entire house to fill with water.

Everything was drenched. Everything. My suitcase was on the floor, and every piece of clothing I brought with me was soaked. I brought a backpack with a knitting project, two novels, my iPod and various other things; it was sitting on the floor next to my suitcase. DH had piled his clothing on the bed before we left, and his bag was sitting on a chair. His things remained dry. The parents had both wet and dry things. Two garbage cans full of wet and dry things.

Casualties: my iPod, which is gutting; my passport (not so gutting, I hated the pic and am glad for an excuse to get a new one); and one of the two novels. The book is a bummer because it was a Swedish translation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, hardback, that I bought in Malmö. Nearly impossible to replace on this side of the pond. It is really wet. Maybe a loss. Maybe not. I'm hoping not, but time will tell.

Not destroyed, but damaged: very expensive yarn; a blank book; clothes.

We carried furniture and clothes and stuff out of the house until midnight that night. Trucked several loads of stuff to the new house in the parent's Florida car, a 4-door sedan. That was fun. Got eaten alive by mosquitos. They don't grow mozzies big in Florida; they grow them MEAN. I have at least 15 bites, all of them very itchy.

We collapsed on to matteresses on the floor at the new house around 1:30 AM. The next day, my dad and DH did landscaping while my mother and I scrubbed inside some more. Our flight home to Ohio was due to leave Florida at about 7PM last night, and we were looking forward to getting out of the oppressive heat, home to our own bed.

Ha. Again.

Our flight didn't leave until almost 10 PM. We pulled in to our driveway at home at 2:30 AM.

Ow.