So much to say, Part Deux

We left off at the little tykes from next door and we'll pick up with them again today. I just went out to get the clothes off the line (yep, down here in good old Miami we dry our clothes the old-fashioned way because the brainchild who wired the garage and installed the dryer outlet ran regular 110 house wiring and not 220 as required... fried wiring makes for a great reason to put up a clothesline) and Not-Shaun (he's the 5 year old, the 4 year old is Shaun and we can't remember the other one's name) was outside in his little boy tighty whiteys standing on top of the picnic table doing something he probably shouldn't have been doing to the umbrella. So I'm taking the clothes down and I hear,"Hey, hey, hey, hey, HEY LADY!" Nice greeting, kid, real nice. Anyway, I answer him and he proceeds to tell me that I "needs ta git a trash ca-yan ovah here" and clean up my backyard because "it be a wreck". See, we cleaned up after Wilma, but the wind was pretty gusty last night and blew all the little branches from the tree that weren't attached anymore down onto the yard. I looked at him like he couldn't possibly be telling me what I think he was telling me. This is one half of the little shit pair that trashed our garage the other day.

I decided that ignoring him was probably the safest bet, for his sake and mine. I turned back to the clothes I was tending to and he just kept on going. "HEY, hey, HEEEEY! Dis a mess ovah here!" After about a minute more of that I had had enough. More than enough, actually. I turned around and said very flatly, "I don't think you have any business telling me what I should be cleaning up." "Why not, huh?" "Because you should get your behind over here and clean up the mess you and Shaun made in my garage, that's why. If you don't want to take care of your own mess then you should shut your mouth." I was met with a look of terror and a frozen little 5 year old body, as if he'd been hit with some sort of futuristic ray gun. I guess his senses came back to him a few seconds later because he jumped down from the table and ran inside. Ms. Nicechick is gone, kiddies.

There comes a point when, after a week of dealing with hurricane aftermath that my patience for other peoples' children goes the way of the dodo. And since I have none of my own, that's all children, folks.

At least we got to the grocery store yesterday. That was a bright spot, sort of. It was quite a surreal experience - the entire dairy, meat, fish, and frozen sections were completely empty and taped off. Nothing frozen, no meat at all, no fish, no dairy & no eggs. I really wanted some eggs & bacon, but there just weren't any to be had. We made out pretty well, considering. Got some soy milk for cereal in the mornings and some creamer for the coffee. Got a few cans of soup and some beans & rice. Also picked up some mac & cheese (oohlala, the fancy kind that comes with the cheese sauce pouch, not the powder, tres cool) and some soda. The best purchase of the day was the Marzetti's caramel apple dip and a bag of granny smith apples. There's nothing that says Fall to me more than caramel apples, and it's an even better taste now after not having fresh produce in a week. I highly recommend it.

We also ventured out of Miami proper for the first time in a week yesterday evening when we found out that Steve's Pizza was open for business. Steve's makes the best pizza outside of Brooklyn, hands down. The crust is great, the cheese is high quality and yummy, and the sauce is perfect. Not to mention that they use the best pepperoni I've ever had. And they don't skimp on anything - we're talking handfuls of toppings... handfuls. It's one of the few things I'll miss about this area when we leave. It's going to be great to put the leftover slices in the oven for dinner tonight. That pizza makes me drool.

The man just got back from Home Depot. Well, an attempt at Home Depot from what he tells me. They're running on a generator and they're only letting 5 people in at a time. On top of that they're only letting people buy necessary supplies. Guess the small tub of grout the man needs to finish the tile in the living room doesn't constitute a neccessity. Oh well. I think it's soup time. I'll check in later.

P.S. I'm going to New York Thursday night and I'm so excited I can't even express how happy I am to be going. I miss my friends and I miss that city and plus, now I need to visit my favorite piercing studio on St. Marks because I accidentally pulled out my nose ring last night and I can't get it back in. I was blowing my nose and it got caught on the tissue, pulled the damn thing right out. I can get it 1/2 way in, but it's the other 1/2 that makes me nervous. I'm going to leave that to the pros. NYC-J's birthday couldn't have come at a better time! haha