Sherry, We used to live in Gainesville and I've found that the climate there vs Jax is extremely different. So I would think that my advice for you would not be as helpful as from someone in Ocala. I know what you mean about the freezes. We get them here, too. Last winter was very mild, overall, and spring came early. But the people at our local nursery, Trads, kept warning everyone that it was too early to plant and trust the weather when we had warm beautiful days in Feb-Mar. Luckily, we only got one freeze during that time period. As for your transplant time... I'd time it to coincide with your coldest most dormant time, before it breaks bud. For me, that would be the middle of January. I water the plant well the day before I plan to transplant. I bought a long spade, something that Roger on This Old House calls a transplant shovel. I go all the way around the drip line of my small plants at least twice, vertically, to cleanly cut my roots. If your drip line is too large to dig out you'll just have to use good judgement. Then, I try to dig out about 8" or so of dirt outside of the drip line with a regular shovel. This allows me to get easier access to the root ball of my plant. Then, I take my long spade and cut obliquely (horizontally) into the rootball, itself. I point the spade tip slightly downward in order to get more dirt/roots. If your rootball is too small the plant won't survive. Too big and you won't be able to carry without damaging the plant out your back. With the spade you make sure that you've completely horizontally (obliquely) cut through everything attaching the rootball to the ground. Be careful not to pry up with the spade because it will bend the shovel head. The next part works much better with the help of a friend. Take two regular pointed tip shovels and use them to pry the rootball up from the ground. You will find that you've missed some roots, so now is the time to cut then with the spade.Then, find a way to either lift it by hand out of the hole or feed a tarp or other device under the ball. I usually get it lifted out of the whole and onto a tarp. I may mist the rootball lightly to keep the tender root hairs moist. Be extremely gentle. Just a vapor of mist. Then, we drag the tarp to the new location which is already dug out and waiting for the transplant. Adjust for height. Amend if necessary/recommended. Drop in. Backfill halfway. Water it in well. Allow the water to remove any hidden air pockets. Backfill some more. Repeat. I have sandy, loamy/sandy soil. So, I literally can't over water anything... For a winter transplant, I then will water it every day for a week. Then twice a week for a week and then once to twice a week until it warms up. If I'm really worried about survival at transplant I'll add a little SuperThrive. I personally don't believe the science behind SuperThrive. It literally looks like snake oil to me. That said and old master gardener told me to use it when I transplanted a 5 gallon camellia 3 months after originally planting it and it survived without any yellowing or leaf drop. It probably lived because it was a new containerized planting that hadn't, yet, established any new significant roots. Nevertheless... I definitely wouldn't go out of my way to find, buy or use SuperThrive because, again, it's probably snake oil. But if you have some it probably wouldn't hurt to use some. As for covering the plants... I've planted 17 hydrangeas (all types, macs, pan, arbor) this year and I have 16 more (all types including oakleafs) on order from Internet nurseries that should arrive in 1 week. I definitely plan on covering, intermittently as necessary this winter. I used sheets last year and had some branch loss at the edge of the sheets. I also tried the landscape freeze covers they sell at the big box stores. Same thing. Most of the plants thrived and the edges liquified. So this year I'm building frames to go over the plants and I'm going to cover with fabric. I have always wanted to try a lightbulb but I'm afraid of catching something on fire. I lived in Boston in the past and people used leaves and burlap, but it looks like a lot of work especially for us in Florida. Because, I would think with our warm temps followed by random brief cold snaps, we'd have to assemble, disassemble, reassemble etc. Good luck with your transplant and do get some help lifting so that you don't hurt yourself or the plant. Brad

State of Connecticut. The answer is yes. We moved out before the closing on our former homes. All were local moves. Very simply, when the closing was done, we turned over the keys and no longer had any rights to the property. Staying the house would have been negotiated with the new owners prior to the closing and spelled out in a contract. By the same token, when we closed on homes we were buying, our walk throughs the morning of the closing were in empty houses. As far as moving our furniture, our first house we moved into ourselves from an apartment. Our second house, we moved in right after the closing. We lived in a camper for a night after moving out of our first house. The furniture was kept locked in the mover's truck overnight. The last move, we closed on our new house 2 weeks before we moved out of the old one. Enjoy the journey. eal51 in western CT

I don't really have a lot. Most furniture is from my past marriage, and I don't want nor do we need any of it. I do have lots of personal items however, and lots and lots I brought over from Germany that I am still not ready to let go of. The move should be easy. The hair stylist comment made me laugh, as I cut my own. :)

Yeah just be calm and confident knowing that she is a very lucky cat to be staying in her own house with people she knows - dont let her pick up on any anxiety or guilt because really you have no reason to be feeling that IMHO! Keep kitty's routine normal, same time for meals etc. I was gone for a while and left my one-person cat at home with a then-roommate, who reported that kitty was ok and just went about her day to day life as normal, enjoyed being petted and occasionally brushed. But then the day I came back - about 12 hours before I walked in the door, my cat apparently parked herself on the back of the sofa facing the door and just stayed there for hours until I walked in. Somehow she knew. Needless to say there was a lot of lovin' going on that night!