Ok, I'll pick up where I left off...Monday morning, Sept 6, 2010...There may be what you might consider WTMI (way too much info) for the first paragraph...I woke up with a yeast infection from hell! And went to get something to cure it. Of course, the only thing available was the usual messy, goopy stuff, and it takes 3 to 5 days to work...While we were eating breakfast, the teeth near the one that had just been repaired on Friday decided to start being grumpy. It felt like someone had set up an electrical charge on them and was just jumping current from one to the other. It went on sporadically all day, but we had fun anyway. We went down to the beach at sunrise and picked out the spot we wanted to get married at and laid around awhile. Then we went and changed clothes and decided to go to the northern-most point and check out the estuary trail there. Wow! More adventure! We walked out the boardwalk and it was really beautiful. There was a path off the boardwalk thru the woods, and we debated going to see what was out that way. There were these HUGE "garden" spiders all over the place. The ones that make the zig-zags in their webs. These babies were gigantic about the size of a dessert plate with legs and all. I got a couple of sticks to swipe webs with and we started out. A couple of ladies told us that they had just seen a bald eagle over the sound, and we couldn't wait to see it. The trail was over a mile long, and we took our time and talked and laughed. There was a small notice on a little sign at the head of the trail saying that we could find ticks, chiggers and spiders on the trail. We got about 3/4 of the way down the trail and there was a park bench, so we sat down to rest. All of a sudden Chris starts slapping at his legs and rubbing them. We looked but didn't see anything except what looked like little grains of sand, and they were moving. Well, his legs down around the ankles had a BUNCH of these extremely teeny tiny tick/mite/chigger like things on them and we were trying to get them off him. We did pretty good, but everytime he would stop moving for more than about 5 seconds, they were back on him. So we hurried up to the end of the trail. No bald eagle, and more mites, so we headed back to the boardwalk. Chris got out in front and I had to practically jog to keep up. He was running thru the woods like his pants were on fire trying to get away from these things. I started singing "I want to check you for ticks" to him, but that really didn't help...We got back to the boardwalk and the car and got all the critters off him. Luckily I only had one on me and they didn't go where either of us had put on our sunscreen. I had put it on my feet too, but Chris had stopped just below his knees. Good thing he didn't stop putting it on any higher... The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I guess running thru the piney-woods of NC was enough for fate to hand out to us for one day...
On Tues, we decided to go first thing and get our marriage license. Good thing! We drove out to Manteo, on Roanoke Island and the first thing we did was drive around for 20+ minutes trying to find a place to park. There was a police officer doing the same thing, and even she couldn't park. Finally in a side lot we found a place and beat the officer to it! Then set off on the hike to the registrar of deeds office. When we got there, there must have been 20 couples trying to get a marriage license. We filled out our papers and got out the list of items we were told to bring and got a clerk. Now keep in mind I had called 3 different times and spoken to 3 different clerks and had read the website numerous times to make sure we were bringing the right things. They told me specifically NOT to bring our social security cards. We didn't...and the first thing they asked for was...our social security cards. Never looked at our birth certificates, divorce papers or anything else. When we told them we didn't have them, they got all shook up. One of the clerks said she would accept our W-2's. Well, I don't know about you, but I don't carry those things on me, and would have NEVER guessed we would have to produce THOSE of all things. So when I told her we didn't have those either, THEY ACCUSED US OF NOT FILING OUR TAXES FOR 2009!!! So now just how does this have anything at all with getting a marriage license??? Finally another clerk told us to find a branch of our bank and go there and have them print out a paper with our social security numbers on it - we knew our numbers, but that was NOT enough. I got Mom on the phone in case she was going to have to go and break into the safe deposit box to get our cards out and fax a copy over. So we went and hunted a branch of the bank. We went in and one of the people in those little cubicles said "Hi" to us and I just breezed right in and sat down and told him our problem and asked him to fix it. He did, and was very nice about it. Chris told me as we were leaving that the clerk was just being nice by speaking to me and I was supposed to take a seat and wait for someone to call us. I told Chris that you would be surprised at how much help you can get by pulling out your southern accent, being completely helpless, and then after you get what you need you just thank and appreciate the person that helped you until they can't help but smile....That's how I get alot of things done that others find impossible...I "rely on the kindness of strangers". And say that with a deep accent!
Then it was back to the registrar of deeds office. Finding another place to park and going thru the process all over again. We got a different lady and she just looked at the paper and said fill in the blanks on this form, and give me $60! So off we went with our marriage license. In the meantime another couple had come in. Now I am not being mean here just honest...The man was in his 50's and ugly as a mud fence. He was short and heavy set, dark complected - Mexican/African American- bald, pock-marked face, and a dark suit on. With him was a gorgeous, tall, thin, model-type wispy blonde dressed in a white pleated silk baby-doll with a black sash and bow around the empire-waist. When they got up to the counter, the clerk said that they had to have her birth certificate because she was JUST 18 YEARS OLD!!! Well, that was a mess, because she was from Russia and all that... It made us feel a little better that we weren't the only ones having problems with that office that day. We left there with them saying that they THOUGHT WE could bring back our marriage license and get an official copy of it on Wednesday after the ceremony. A little doubtful, but... We went and shopped at the Christmas shop and then went to the aquarium and a new place that just opened, The Island Farm. If y'all ever get to go to the OBX, don't miss seeing The Island Farm. It is an authentic 1700's farm that the Etheridge's owned. They were part of the Pea Island Life Saving Station that was manned solely by African American men and their families. It is the most interesting HANDS ON museum! I loved it that I could touch things and not feel guilty!
In a little while, I will continue with the "rest of the story..."
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Wedding: Part One
Well, here is the first one of how ever many blogs it takes to get this story out for you all to enjoy! WARNING: This may contain episodes of WTMI - Way too much information for those of you who need the translation! We were scheduled to get married in the Outer Banks, NC on Sept 4, 2010. So the first thing that went wrong is that Hurricane Earl decided to hit that weekend. The area was evacuated and noone was allowed in. Of course who would want to be married on the beach at sunrise in a guazy dress in a hurricane anyway...That would have been like being naked in a sand storm plus being soaked down to the skin. I wouldn't have needed any chemical peel after something like that, but we decided to pass on that particular spa treatment and managed to get the whole thing rescheduled to sunrise on Wed Sept 8, 2010. We were set to leave for the OBX on Sun Sept 5.
Well, at 1:30 pm on Fri Sept 3, I was eating lunch and my very back top right molar had a huge chunk break out of it. So I called my dentist and he said to get in there right that minute, so I ran down there and they did a HUGE filling for me and charged me $180! OK, I can deal with that whole thing, just don't make me stand on the beach and repeat my vows with a giant toothache! On Saturday, Chris had to work and I started my new "job" helping clean the office at a auto body shop. I wound up being there a lot longer than planned, but it was all good. Got home and got finished packing and ready to go on Sun morning. I had cooked and baked a lot previously so that we would have a lot of gluten free food for my Hubby-to-be. We had packed up our bicycles to ride while we were down there, but when we got in the car to leave, the tires were rubbing the inside of the wheel wells, so we had to take them off and were a little late getting out of here. We would rent bikes when we got there.
We had a beautiful trip down, stopping to see the incredible scenery of the WV & VA mountains. We went thru Staunton instead of Harrisonburg, so we got to see some country we hadn't seen before. Alot of it was picture perfect! Like looking at a living postcard. We got to the beach about 5 pm and went to check in. We got our keys and welcome pack and headed over to the Currituck Club. We knew we were staying in a "community", but we didn't know it was a luxury golf community with an intricate security system. So the first thing we came to was a guardhouse. They took one look at us and said "NOPE!" We didn't have the wristbands and car placard that we needed to gain access to the community and our "house". So they called the realty company on one line and we called them on another. Then back up to the realty company to pickup the placard and wristbands...They let us in and we found our house and got all the luggage and gear unloaded and were ready to head to the beach. For some reason, Chris picked up the brochure about the community we were staying in and decided to check it out. Good thing he did! We could leave the community, but after dusk we would not be able to get back in because the guardhouse would close and we would need a pass code to get back in. We had not been given one by the realty company and they were closed. So we called their "emergency lockout" number when technically we were locked IN! The agent had no clue what we were talking about and we spent at least an hour on phone calls back and forth trying to get it all sorted out. We decided to go down to the guardhouse, throw ourselves on their mercy and see if they could help us out at all. Thank God the guard on duty felt sorry for us. He said we had half of the pass code figured out and since we had obviously rented the house and had all the paperwork for it, he would give us the other half of it. So we got to the beach about an hour before it got dark. We got to see the most amazing sunset though. And when we first got to the top of the pass over the dune, we looked down and there was a couple getting married! Beautiful!
We went back to the house and I decided to try out the jacuzzi tub. The water was the color of pee, and smelled funny. I thought the hurricane had stirred up the water tanks, and there were no notices to avoid the water, so I got in for a quick dip. Chris took a shower... When I got out, we decided to see what the jets would do, and they shot sand out, so we never used the tub. The more we looked around the house, the more dirt we found. There was black gunk all over the bannisters, dust EVERYWHERE! And thick layers of it. We couldn't use the one toilet b/c the "cleaners" had left feces on the seat...Both of the showers had soap scum and dirty soap suds on the walls. There was grease all over the sink and blinds in the kitchen. The boards and nails on the deck were loose, so we set deck furniture over that so we would tear up our feet on the nails. Needless to say, we were surprised the dreaded bedbugs weren't there. I don't think the housecleaners had met up with SOFT SCRUB! I was more than willing to introduce them! Don't think I didn't complain! I did repeatedly!
The house itself was cute and the neighborhood was incredible. I just wouldn't ever use the realty company they have representing them ever again. By the way, don't use Sun Realty to rent a home from in the Outer Banks. They are clueless about the security features of their properties,have a nasty cleaning crew and screwy ways of doing everything...the story will develop more from here...I want you to come back for more!!
Well, at 1:30 pm on Fri Sept 3, I was eating lunch and my very back top right molar had a huge chunk break out of it. So I called my dentist and he said to get in there right that minute, so I ran down there and they did a HUGE filling for me and charged me $180! OK, I can deal with that whole thing, just don't make me stand on the beach and repeat my vows with a giant toothache! On Saturday, Chris had to work and I started my new "job" helping clean the office at a auto body shop. I wound up being there a lot longer than planned, but it was all good. Got home and got finished packing and ready to go on Sun morning. I had cooked and baked a lot previously so that we would have a lot of gluten free food for my Hubby-to-be. We had packed up our bicycles to ride while we were down there, but when we got in the car to leave, the tires were rubbing the inside of the wheel wells, so we had to take them off and were a little late getting out of here. We would rent bikes when we got there.
We had a beautiful trip down, stopping to see the incredible scenery of the WV & VA mountains. We went thru Staunton instead of Harrisonburg, so we got to see some country we hadn't seen before. Alot of it was picture perfect! Like looking at a living postcard. We got to the beach about 5 pm and went to check in. We got our keys and welcome pack and headed over to the Currituck Club. We knew we were staying in a "community", but we didn't know it was a luxury golf community with an intricate security system. So the first thing we came to was a guardhouse. They took one look at us and said "NOPE!" We didn't have the wristbands and car placard that we needed to gain access to the community and our "house". So they called the realty company on one line and we called them on another. Then back up to the realty company to pickup the placard and wristbands...They let us in and we found our house and got all the luggage and gear unloaded and were ready to head to the beach. For some reason, Chris picked up the brochure about the community we were staying in and decided to check it out. Good thing he did! We could leave the community, but after dusk we would not be able to get back in because the guardhouse would close and we would need a pass code to get back in. We had not been given one by the realty company and they were closed. So we called their "emergency lockout" number when technically we were locked IN! The agent had no clue what we were talking about and we spent at least an hour on phone calls back and forth trying to get it all sorted out. We decided to go down to the guardhouse, throw ourselves on their mercy and see if they could help us out at all. Thank God the guard on duty felt sorry for us. He said we had half of the pass code figured out and since we had obviously rented the house and had all the paperwork for it, he would give us the other half of it. So we got to the beach about an hour before it got dark. We got to see the most amazing sunset though. And when we first got to the top of the pass over the dune, we looked down and there was a couple getting married! Beautiful!
We went back to the house and I decided to try out the jacuzzi tub. The water was the color of pee, and smelled funny. I thought the hurricane had stirred up the water tanks, and there were no notices to avoid the water, so I got in for a quick dip. Chris took a shower... When I got out, we decided to see what the jets would do, and they shot sand out, so we never used the tub. The more we looked around the house, the more dirt we found. There was black gunk all over the bannisters, dust EVERYWHERE! And thick layers of it. We couldn't use the one toilet b/c the "cleaners" had left feces on the seat...Both of the showers had soap scum and dirty soap suds on the walls. There was grease all over the sink and blinds in the kitchen. The boards and nails on the deck were loose, so we set deck furniture over that so we would tear up our feet on the nails. Needless to say, we were surprised the dreaded bedbugs weren't there. I don't think the housecleaners had met up with SOFT SCRUB! I was more than willing to introduce them! Don't think I didn't complain! I did repeatedly!
The house itself was cute and the neighborhood was incredible. I just wouldn't ever use the realty company they have representing them ever again. By the way, don't use Sun Realty to rent a home from in the Outer Banks. They are clueless about the security features of their properties,have a nasty cleaning crew and screwy ways of doing everything...the story will develop more from here...I want you to come back for more!!
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