| Here is what is going on with the Florida Remberts |
| September 1, 2004 Happy 8th Birthday to Coral!!! Today news came down from the powers that be that the Space Center will be closed after today due to Frances' imminent landfall. Dan got the kids and started preparing the house for the hurricane and packing clothes for the unexpected travels. Speaking of travels, Amy is still in Phoenix and still planning on a trip back early tomorrow. September 2, 2004 Dan and the kids finished packing today and also taped the windows and brought all the outside-stuff back inside. After that we, including Zoey, hopped in the Caravan and headed toward the airport to pick up Amy. That trip only took 2 hours and in turn made us 2 hours early to pick up Amy (Dan wanted to make sure to leave early in case it took 4 hours to get there), so we killed some time at an industrial park walking around and picnicking outside a post office. Amy got in about 4:45 and we met here inside the airport. Then it took us another 4 hours to get to our motel in Tarpon Springs (just northwest of Tampa). September 3, 2004 Now that we made it to the Tahitian Resort, we used this time to act like we were on vacation. We spent the day poolside and waited for the storm to come ashore. Later, we got a visit from John and the kids to get out of Krista's hair while she was busy being 8 1/2 months pregnant. September 4, 2004 Since we were in town, we took a short trip to visit Dan's cousin Tim and Jim down in St. Pete Beach. We got the tour of their place (the kids didn't touch anything) and then went for brunch at their friends' place, the Frog Pond. After that nice visit, we toured the beaches of the Tampa area on our way back to the motel. Later for dinner, we had a nice calm meal at the Roadhouse Grill. It was nice because no one was out, so we didn't have to worry about bothering anyone and we got our food in a very timely manner. September 5, 2004 Hurricane Frances hits land! We spent the day in the hotel room watching news reports near our home of the storm that took its sweet time moving ashore and doing its damage. September 6, 2004 Happy Labor Day!!! Speaking of labor, Frances is laboring to get across the state...it is now in the Tampa area and causing our stay to be another night. After we woke up and got breakfast at the motel, we realized that it may not be a good idea to travel across the state with the winds and rain, so we stayed put for another night. To break the boredom, we made a fort for the kids to play in while Dan and Amy used the rest of the small room to kill the time on this rainy day. September 7, 2004 It was time to get back home, so we packed up everything and checked out of the Resort life. It took about 4 or 5 hours with traffic to get back home. The house was still standing, but there was water damage in the garage, a few more sections of our fences down, and debris everywhere. We were very happy to be home and to find that we still had power and water and not much damage considering the potential for it. September 8, 2004 With much damage at KSC and most of the county, work and schools were closed. This gave us time to clean up the mess. We spent most of the day cleaning and now hearing about the possibility of getting hit by Ivan, the next big hurricane. September 9, 2004 We found out that schools and work will be closed until Monday, so we continued the clean-up efforts and started planning for Ivan. September 10, 2004 Today, since we got most of the mess finished and only repairs to do, we took some time off to enjoy Erin's Birthday party and Dan went to a Hold 'Em party later. September 11, 2004 God Bless America on Patriot Day!!! We are learning that we may be continuing our vacation because of Ivan, but the track seems to be moving more west, we will keep an eye on that. The last nail went into the fence, Amy and the kids did some swimming, and football season started to show signs on the Rembert TV, so things are returning back to normal. Later, Amy went out for dinner with a few parents/teachers from Jordan and Ian's Preschool at the Olive Garden. September 12, 2004 It looks like a great news/bad news situation with Hurricane Ivan...the great news is, it seems to be moving to the west and will not have a big effect on us here, the bad news is, the vacation is over. More good news...NFL Football has arrived! Dan watched the Steelers game at Pat's place (where he plays poker every other week) and it was in HDTV. That technology is awesome and Dan will definitely be returning there more this season. September 13, 2004 Happy Birthday to Tim!!! Back to the grind in a big way...the kids went back to school and Dan and Amy went back to KSC. There was some damage to the VAB and other buildings in the area. The orbiters were left unharmed, but the tile shop got the roof blown off and is temporarily unusable. September 14, 2004 Coral's soccer practice was cancelled due to the wet fields, so there was not much to report today in Florida. Just always keeping an eye on the Atlantic for hurricanes. September 15, 2004 After work and school, Jordan had soccer practice, so everyone met at the field and got some exercise. Even though Ivan is staying away from us, it looks like he is going to hit the place we were going to possibly move to after Dan's interview last June 5th and 6th (read by clicking here). Also, Tropical Storm Jeanne is heading this way and will be a hurricane soon. September 16, 2004 The hits just keep on coming! Now Jeanne is making a B-line towards the east coast of Florida...this news is not good with the destruction of Ivan is all over the news. Speaking of TV, it was the debut of Survivor, Joey, and the Apprentice...we watched them all. September 17, 2004 Congrats to Krista, John, Tuffer, and Erin for their great NEWS of baby Jessie!!! Also, Happy Birthday to Shannah!!! To celebrate a long week back to the grind, after work, school and gymnastics, we went to a little get together with some friends at Dan's new poker buddy, Kevin's house. September 18, 2004 The day started off with a trip for the entire family to the soccer field to watch the Lightning (Jordan's team). After that, Amy and Coral celebrated Coral's birthday a bit late by going on a shopping spree...she got to pick some extra gifts in lue of having a party, which got cancelled due to all the hurricane activity. They also fit in a visit with Krista and Jessie in the hospital. September 19, 2004 A typical Sunday...Amy and Coral did the church/CCD/Publix trip and Dan sat on his lazy butt watching football. No Steeler game this week, which was a good thing since they looked bad. Later, Dan and Amy did some final touch-up work to round-off the hurricane clean-up. September 20, 2004 No extracurricular activities today, so Dan took the time to cut the grass in the back yard. September 21, 2004 Coral's team was able to fit in a quick practice in between rain storms. She had practice after her 8-year check-up at the doctor's. She was given a clean bill of health...in fact, "She is perfect". She now weighs 52 lbs. and is 4 foot, 1 1/2 inches tall. September 22, 2004 Jordan's team practice was today, so the entire family met at the soccer field, but other than that excitement, nothing shocking to report. September 23, 2004 She's baaaack...when Dan and Amy got into work today; the email system was cluttered with notes about Jeanne and her turn toward the east coast of Florida and possibly our home. Time to start the hurricane preparations again! September 24, 2004 Yes, it is true...Jeanne is coming, so KSC was closed today to let everyone prepare for the worst, again! Dan and Amy did exactly that...we brought all the stuff in again and cleaned up the yard again. Luckily, the kids had school like normal, so we didn't have to worry about them while we worked. Today was Coral's last day for the quarter, so they had a pizza party. Later, Dan took Jordan and Coral to gymnastics and then went to his regular poker game. He had a great come-back story for the night...after buying back in 2 times, he fought all the way back to even plus $2 with his final buy-in of $8...woo hoo! September 25, 2004 We decided to ride out the storm at home this time, so we finished all the preparations and "hunkered down". We have heard this so many times, that it has become a drinking game. We put the kids to bed in the hallway and played games just waiting for the storm to come. September 26, 2004 Jeanne reared her ugly head right around midnight and lasted until 8 PM. The worst was in the middle of the night. The kids slept through it, but Dan and Amy had trouble with sleeping with the sounds of freight trains passing over our roof. The power went out about 3:45 AM and came back on at about 2:30 PM. Dan and Amy danced around and screamed like they had just won the lottery when that happened! September 27, 2004 Everyone had the day off to start clean-up efforts. We got most of the fences and water up, but there is more water damage this time around...time for another call to the insurance company. Later, after a long day of work, we all took a break and went to the Shaffer's to see baby Jessie and have a nice dinner-time visit with the families. September 28, 2004 Everyone got back to reality except for Dan and Coral. Brevard schools remained closed, so Coral's daycare at school was also closed. Dan got more stuff done around the house. September 29, 2004 Another day off for Dan and Coral as they watched Amy, Jordan, and Ian drive away. Today's work concentrated on the roof...one of the many high-in-demand roof contractors stopped by to give an estimate for the damage and Dan got some roof sealant to help stop the leaking. After everyone got home, Dan went to the Incubus concert in Orlando with Chuck and Shannah. The show was AWESOME! Incubus sounded great and their set was filled with cool songs from the past and present...only two songs were missing, "The Warmth" and "Pardon Me". September 30, 2004 Everyone is back to school/daycare/work now. After that was all over, Amy went out to dinner at Cara Mia with a few friends from work...that was where the excitement ended for the day. |
| The Florida Remberts Diary Archives September 2004 |
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