Veni Vidi Dolli: MONTH IN REVIEW: October & November 2018

I'm really behind on Month in Reviews, so bear with me while I whip these out. I might just tackle October and November right now, because it's 4:16am. I'm not tired though! Wah.

So October was the month that drastically changed my life, but there were nine fairly normal days before that.

Botticelli and several other bears arrived on October 1st. Botticelli is my first full-sized mohair Charlie Bear. He may be my only one for quite some time if not forever. I really prefer the plush, but Botticelli was so stunning that I did a 6-month layaway on him.

He really is fabulous, but he lacks the cuddle factor of the plush line.

Bear Berry was one of my October arrivals from late September's QVC show. She's a lovely deep red and very soft and squishy.

Denali was this year's QVC US exclusive.

I also received my replacement Chatterbox from QVC, who has a much less wobbly head than my first one.

This black C Is for Cthulhu plush is from Amazon. He wasn't cheap, but he's so adorable.

The gorgeous Twinky arrived on October 4th. She would be my last bear purchase for weeks.

I did some Marvel Rising and Boxy Girls reviews before the hurricane hit, but then on October 10th, Hurricane Michael came raging into town and destroyed most everything I loved.

Every building in my complex was damaged. The roof was partially torn off my building. This photo is from the other breezeway, not ours, to show the most extensive damage that happened to my particular building.

My bedroom window popped inward, but at an upward angle, so only the two shelves right next to the window and the piles of books beneath were damaged.

Some of my BJDs got quite the soaking. They were right under the window and I couldn't go in to get them out until the storm had passed. So I spent part of one day hand-washing their outfits and drying them on towels in front of the porch door.

We lived without power for 8 hot days and dark nights. We lived without cell phone service for 8 days, unable to let anyone know we were alive except for a call to my dad and one to my uncle made right after the storm before we fully lost service. We lived without running water for 10 days. Trips to the pool were made for water to flush the toilets.

Most of what I lost was books and furniture, but having to move at short notice, I cut down on my collection where I could. Being without power for so long, the black mold was quick to attack and I lost all my bookshelves.

But we got out. On Monday October 22nd, we left our home behind. And my off-site storage area, which was filled with books, but we've since been in touch and my dad and I are going to make a run down there in the next month or so to check it out and bring some stuff back. I'm only bringing what can fit in his truck and leaving the rest, if there's anything saveable. I hope so.

So on Tuesday the 23rd, we began our almost month-long stay in a cheap motel that allowed pets. This got old real fast, as you can imagine. I went back to work as soon as I could transfer and that income helped a lot while we waited for Mom's 401k money.

Glitter Girls Kani was one of three packages that arrived after the storm was over. It was leftover mail that was supposed to be delivered on Monday and Tuesday when the storm came in. I saw no other mail for a couple weeks, but eventually did get most of what was missing forwarded to me.

So life in Super 8 poked along and I got some random new plushies.

Finally on November 17th, we could move into our new apartment.

Ruskin was my first bear since the hurricane hit and he was an extremely generous gift from a fellow bear collector.

DeeDee had been one of my two outstanding layaways awaiting one last payment. My stockist generously covered her last payment and sent her to me.

Along with Chewy, who was my first post-hurricane bear purchase.

This Piccoli pony was a purchase from a local toystore that I'd love to visit again.

And this cute moth was from a Kickstarter I supported before the hurricane.

Then I went a little overboard with the Charlie Bears. You see, QVC had 6 Easy Pays offered and I decided to check out a lot of the cheaper Bearhouse line. I was so happy to finally be in a home and able to order things again, but also struggling with adjusting to a new workplace and other moving stresses, so I indulged. Retail therapy, y'all.