Baby Steps

Um, apparently most of you took umbrage with my last post ... OK ALL of you took umbrage with my last post ...

So I thought I would post again with a new set of photos!

Got up this morning and wanted to fall right back in bed, which it states clearly in Rule #3 that I cannot, so I headed up to HEB to shop - since they sell pigs ears (for Charlie - yes, they are really pigs ears - I thought it was a Norwegian thing - apparently not) since she was out and that if I was a good girl - I could buy flowers.

I went with some cheap bunches since I don't have much faith I am going to be able to keep anything alive for very long:

We will have to wait a few days on this set:

Flowers make me happy and I like photographing them, so I believe I get every penny out of the flowers I buy.

I was then back to wanting to fall in bed and realized that I had been watching the clock - and had used up 1 hour - like I was on some flight to Australia counting down the hours - only the plane was a wee bit bigger. What? Why am I doing this? Why am I not just plugging away at my To Do list and getting on with things? I might not have popped out of that depression thing as easily as it felt like I had last night. So, wasted another hour pondering this when Linda called and we went out to lunch.

More flowers:

At a pretty little community for the disabled in Brookshire called Brookwood. It was very nice - I will have to look into how long their waiting list is (yeah, ADORABLE little community, wonderful residents and they will have an opening for my Jessie in the next century ... I am SUCH an optimist).

So I killed a few more hours and got home just in time to get a sleepy voiced call from Gary just waking up in Australia with his usual 15 minutes on the phone waking up with me ... nice.

Now it is 3:30 and I am watching the clock again. I am thinking that I have put off my speeding ticket long enough - and since it involves filling out multiple sections, each Notarized by a Notary and multiple cashiers checks or Money Orders I am sure steam will be coming from my ears soon enough (I just KNOW a rant on 'It's just not worth it' ... speeding, that is, is coming ...). So I am going to call the Judges office to make sure I have the 101 steps correctly aligned in just the right order and I am sure the lovely thing on the other end of the phone is SO going to care ...

... better get started ...

Ew ... Ew ... EWWWWW!!!!

So, I'm petting Charlie - my good buddy, my snuggle buddy, my current bed mate and I feel a bump on her neck. "Charlie, have you hurt yourself?" as I pick off the scab and plop it on the desk for no other reason than I am gross and disgusting ...

Said scab extends its legs and starts crawling towards me. EWWWWWW!!! It's a tick. ON. MY. DOG. WHO SLEEPS IN MY BED. EWWWWWWWW!

Maybe it is the lateness of the hour, maybe its that phone call I made just Thursday to my doctors voice mail with my blood test results that let me know, yep, sure enough, you still have Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes swimming around in your blood. Or in laymans terms: Your Lyme Disease hasn't packed its bags and headed to healthier climates ... Maybe its that she SLEEPS IN MY BED. But I have a SERIOUS case of the heebie jeebies right now (flushed the tick and everything ... nope - still creeped out). I seriously feel like things are crawling on me now. So how long is this going to last?

Charlie has had her flea and tick pill - which might just be why said tick was walking in circles and flipped onto its back once during our impromptu photo shoot ... And she had a second dose of something when she got unceremoniously dumped in the kennel on my way to San Antonio on what ever the hell day that was (see earlier post as to reason I have no idea what day I actually went to San Antonio ... um - Oh - Tuesday! I'm so proud ....) so it was not going to do anything to HER. BUT SHE SLEEPS IN MY BED!!!!

EW. EW. EW. It's not like I just pulled a tarantula off her or a tiny garden snake for goodness sake! I think it is my hostile relationship with ticks in general that has me grossed out. Oh, and did I mention ... SHE SLEEPS IN MY BED!!!

I mean I had to grab my camera and snap a few photos:

I believe that is a piece of Charlies neck there in its jaws.

EWWWW!!


EWWWW!!!


EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!


I don't think I'm going to go to bed right this second...

All Better Now ...

Really? No, but getting there and that is what is important, right?

I have to admit a secret - I wasn't only sick, I was, as I told Gary last night: "broken". Seriously broken. Having panic attacks (mainly about Jessie and is she OK, and happy and, and, and - with ones about Ryan getting in a huge car crash and Gary dead in his apartment and me unable to get him on the phone thrown in for good measure) and seriously not able to reign them in at all. AT ALL. I usually have some skill here - but nope - gone ... for days: bouts of nausea followed by the mother of all panic attacks and then I would just go throw up to break up the tension. (Why am I writing this?)

So, here I am, all 'broken' and what not and who is here to 'talk me down'? Yeah, Charlie. She's a good snuggler, and good at smacking me in the face if I don't scratch her neck just right, but talking me off the ledge? Not so good at that.

So this continues - for days (these started before I went to San Antonio - thus headed to San Antonio sleep deprived and a mess to start with) and just won't let up. I came to the conclusion this afternoon after dropping Jessie off and immediately crawling into bed and just staring at the walls counting my inhalations that maybe, just maybe I was depressed ... lonely? Maybe, just a little? What was I going to do about it? Well, pretty much nothing ...

... except I got out of bed ...

... and read Dooce.

And guess what happened? I started to smile, and when she writes that cuddling with her 'Olympic pooper' of a baby "smells like the farts of unicorns drunk on happiness and Sprite." my smile got a bit bigger and that piece of my brain that wonders how good writers get to be good writers and where in the hell do they get the stuff they write and then on to the step where I feel incredibly jealous that I am not a good writer and so badly want to be one ... and all of a sudden - I am not depressed anymore.

OK, I'm talking 10 minutes here, but after days and days of hellish panic and nausea - I will TAKE IT!!!

So, where do I go from here? I finished Dooce's article about getting her washing machine fixed (very funny - but in an ex-Mormon living in Utah irreverent and full of cuss words funny - just so you've been warned) and laughed out loud once ... scared Charlie - not a noise she has heard lately. Where I go from here is out of my bed and stop staring at the walls.

The day after everyone was gone, I started a post which had some rules that I was going to follow now that I was totally and completely alone. Since I came up with only two rules and had already broken both with gusto, I didn't ever post it - but I am thinking it would be cathartic for me to at least post my goals to keep sane over the next few months:

1) Wear clothes at all times. (You would think this would be easy, but, well lets just say I will be doing better in the future)

2) Spend an hour organizing, cleaning, etc a closet or cupboard daily until your freaking house is not such a hovel full of crap. (This too, on the surface seems easy enough - but when you are busy staring at the walls and counting how many times you breathe each hour to calm the panic attacks - not so easy ...)

And now that I know better I am adding a biggie:

3) STAY OUT OF BED!!! Right now that is easy enough - I CAN'T STAND IT there. But, as I well know, tomorrow is another day and when my forward motion is non-existent - I know I will just fall back in bed and start counting something ... So - I'm sayin' not going to happen.

I fly to Utah and on to Idaho on Sept 11th for a wedding and will be meeting up with 'my boys' from the corners of the earth for a few days and then coming home with Gary for him to spend a week finishing tables he was building Ryan. I'm thinking baby steps and that I will give this a go until then and see how I am doing - who knows - I might even have some loftier goals to add.

But for now: Aim Low - and keep smiling ...

Well .... Dang ....

Had I known that I just needed to order Chinese delivery (sick stomaches like the rice) and everything would be hunky dorey - I'd a done it a few days ago:

I'm SURE things are going to be just fine now (except for that call I just got that Ryan got a speeding ticket, and oh, well, never mind).

Breathe, breathe, breathe ...

Distraction

Well, I have successfully kept down a few ounces of Coke and haven't barfed in a couple of hours and I am so sick of laying in bed ... can't do it - even if I do have to go throw up - it will at least break up the monotony.

I can't believe that just moving some furniture could set me up with a head cold, fever and chills, flu-like symptoms, serious aches and pains ... OK, I can believe it - I have been living with it for 17 years and knew I was going to be in trouble, but what are you going to do?

Everything seems to be going swimmingly and that is what matters ...

We had to get a bit creative since I really couldn't carry his freakishly huge love seat very far. I figured out that the feet came off and it fit in the kitchen on its side with maybe a few centimetres to spare - and this with a bunch of twisting and grunting on our parts! We sort of played Twister but holding heavy furniture while we were doing it. Not a game I recommend.

We decided we wanted to grab some water before we filled up the front of the fridge with all his floor lamps and vacuum - and I just wanted to show Ryan's bum:

Every time we fit something in some impossible place, Ryan shouted out "Jenga!" which he explained was a game where you pull blocks out and try not to let the tower tumble - sort of seemed a logical thing to shout out when you are crazy and exhausted, so ... what the hell.

The kitchen (not entirely filled as of this photo, but was too exhausted and didn't really care anymore when I had finished):

His dresser, wooden TV trays, and various an sundry items fit in the bathroom and his bed mattress and base fit EXACTLY (and, oh, I mean exactly) in his storage shed. So we had everything off the carpet Tuesday night and then went to live fake lives in their model home.

The management had let us stay there once before, I can't remember why - but you know - model home - fake fruit, fake TV, thus nothing to do but pretend to live ... was incredibly boring and I was sick so I just laid in the fake bed and moaned most of the day (the moaning was pretty real ...).

They actually finished installing the carpet and pad at about 4:00pm Wednesday and his apartment smells FANTASTIC!!! No more dog pee smell. You have no idea - I could smell it in my sleep and was starting to detest his apartment and it really, really is adorable. Man - gated community, 3 swimming pools, fitness center and we get the one apartment from hell!

Then came moving all the furniture back out again and every time we started with something we looked at each other and said "How in the HELL did we get that there?" There is a wall out from the kitchen about 3' away so everything needed to twist and turn a corner. Fun, Fun, Fun and Twister backwards is just as un-fun as it is forwards.

I collapsed in the middle and Ryan thought I was stroking out - but told him I was just resting (I was really praying I would just die so I wouldn't have to move his bed ...).

Finished up and Ryan made me go lay down, but I wanted to get home - I was desperate to get home. No more sleeping in model homes for me - I WANTED MY BED!!! Even though the house was empty - I was just desperate to get there.

Headed out with a wee bit of a lead foot. Was toodling along and it was getting dark, which is a problem for us out there breaking the law by speeding (you can't see the Trooper cars) and all of a sudden lights turned on on the side of the road and a Highway patrol car pulled out. I slowed down and courteously got over so he could go get the guy I was following but I am NEVER that lucky - he got right behind me and made his intentions VERY CLEAR. Damn, there was that one second when I was getting over that I thought - he will keep going and get the guy in front of me - but - alas ... nay ... and I deserved it.

So - paying a fine and Defensive Driving are in my future. I have never been able to talk a policeman out of a ticket - I need to take lessons from Alisha. I was just very happy that I didn't pass out in front of him since I was really, really ill by this time (I didn't want to wait until morning since I knew I would be worse - which I was ... but in my own bed). I am pretty sure he would have ticketed me for something had I passed out in front of him - or shot me since it probably would have scared the shit out of him - who knows - by that time I really didn't care all that much ...

So - home but here for a few days. I think with the chills and sweats and the head cold that I am contagious and don't want to spread the joy. I know I should be in bed, but I have been there for 2 solid days and I am actually, sort of starting to detest it ...

Too Sick to Post

Too sick to breathe.

Too sick to have driven myself home last night.

Too sick to actually be out of bed for the first time today.

Will catch up on San Antonio craziness later (suffice it to say Ryan apartmen is WONDERFUL now! - but no consolation that it nearly killed me)

Later

Agggh!!!

So, I am on the phone asking Ryan what he is doing since he is sluffing his second day of a second orientation since as he put it: 'It's so lame' and he pulls out his bread - and screams. It has been chewed into and half of it eaten.

NOT GOOD. And I'M NOT STUPID! I looked carefully in the one I looked at when deciding and then at his again - for droppings - of any kind - nada. So they are not just roaming his apartment willy nilly - I KNOW I have been diligently checking since I am nervous about this new apartment he is in with its funky smell.

I really researched apartments and this is a REALLY NICE apartment! At least if you are judging by reviews and cost (not real expensive, but definately not cheap!) which is what I did. The one I SAW was very nice when I was deciding on what apartment to get. But we don't get that one, we get the one across the way - aparently THE APARTMENT FROM HELL. When we got there, there was a distinct smell of dog urine and so they shampooed. None of us feelt good enough about it to walk on it bare foot. It didn't help so they shampooed again.

Still not good.

So today when I called to yell (I am paying for the apartment so I feel I get to be the one yelling) the totally freaked about the mouse or ... whatever ... and said that they would replace the carpet and the padding as long as all the furniture was out by tomorrow.

SO.....

I'm off. To drop the dog off at the kennel and on to San Antonio to put all Ryan's meager belongings into his storage closet and his couch in the closet where the washer and dryer would go. It's going to work out, right? RIGHT?

I am not a real happy girl, but was just mooning about staying out of the way of the cleaning lady (which is why I have time to blog) - waiting for her to finish before I go.

Might as well drop off the things Ryan has already identified that he has forgotten.

Pest control is freaking and coming out today also so us not sleeping there will be cool when something goes SNAP!! in the night! And then the entire apartment unit is going to be fumigated or what ever they do on Monday.

FUN, FUN, FUN ....

I'm off to Buc-eys and then to Ryan's ....

Wish us luck!!!

Damn, the dorms are sounding better and better - regardless on if Ryans roomate is a psycho (we don't know anyone so he would just get some random person - weren't willing to chance it) - but now his roomates appear to be small furry creatures - I wonder which one he would pick now ...

Charlie Should Be VERY Afraid ...

Does she look afraid? 'Cause she should. I have been home for exactly 3 hours and 8 minutes and I feel 'raving lunatic' coming on ... (she seems to have a more pleading 'HELP ME!!!' look, now doesn't she?)

I've been alone before - even warned you that it makes me a bit crazy (or maybe a bit more than a bit ...) - but this time it feels so ....

...FINAL ...

Maybe it is Gary's empty sink:

(OK, I did that because I can't stand his electric toothbrush and soap out - but still ...)

Or maybe it's this:

Or this:



I can finally see Ryan's floor and the jubilation lasted about 15 seconds ... then I started missing him.

It could be Charlie is freaked because, yet again, I am trying to drown out the silence by blasting my speakers ... I'm sure any minute now it is going to work. Any. Minute. Now ....


ALONE ...



Really alone - for the first time in my life and I'm wondering how this is going to go? As Cherri suggested - I could teach - except I want to visit my husband - so there goes anything that includes limited vacation days - and the last time I worked I got so sick I had to 'retire' and I do need to keep my health in mind.

I have projects lined up, and new software to learn, and new books to read and the every day things that just need to be done - so I should be fine.

But I am thinkin' that for some reason, learning Adobe Photoshop CS 4 would be a whole lot easier/funner/comforting if I could hear Gary laughing at something on the TV, or Ryan doing the same on his laptop while I was doing it. I could accomplish all this and then at the end of the day - show Gary (who loves me enough to act interested and say he likes my edited photos and graphics when I know, and he knows that he couldn't give a rats ass ...).

So, just Charlie - and right now she is TOTALLY not appreciating the September Newsletter header I have been creating in Photoshop

AT ALL ...

This Just Might Be A Record For Me ...

of not posting.



Weird - things have been super busy, done lots with Ryan moving and hubby home, but I normally still take the time - since I enjoy posting - to sit down and whip out some sort of drivel.



But not this week. Realized I have nothing to say - I guess that is shareable.



It was a big week in another respect - Jessie moved to RSS one year ago on the 19th and try as I might - I couldn't bring my fingers to find the words I feel about that. 'Mixed' is about as far as I can go then things spiral out of control - so no letter.



Tomorrow will be interesting to say the least.



Church.



Pick up Jessie.



Home with the Family.



Ryan drop off Jessie on his way out of town.



Me drop off Gary at the airport.



And then I drive home ...



... to what?



A psycho dog and a seriously empty house. I am not feeling very good about this and more than a we bit depressed so things are going to be bit bumpy for a while.



I would have just laughed if 15 months ago someone walked up to me and said: "On August 24, 2009 you are going to wake up in your house entirely alone, and the next day and the next and the next."

I am fine with how things worked out.

Don't regret any of it.

But saying it and living it are two very different things.

Apartment Camping

You know, not as fun as it sounds ....

Came to bring the first wave of stuff to Ryan's apartment. Got some college stuff done, got some apartment stuff done, got Internet hooked up, got some job application stuff done - so a necessary trip and a good one - just the 'camping' part of that title ... not so much fun.

No furniture - so TV trays and camp chairs for desks:

The kitchen we did get 'moved in' - so that is behind us and we at least had plates, etc:

One blow up mattress for Mom and the floor for Ryan (until I got up) made for not great sleeping arrangements:

But - and this is a biggie - a fully functional, stocked bathroom - you don't always get that camping so I can't complain:

A very tiring two and a half days - but got a lot done. Will be finishing up some time this afternoon and heading back home .... to sofas, and desks, and beds



Oh my!

Just Because

Photos by Val Peterson

Time ...

The Temperature War Heats Up ...

Gary didn't call this morning ...

Sad, lonely, wondering why? Is he in bed? Should I call and wake him up? No, it's after midnight there. Sigh ...

Log on, get my e-mail - the usual.

Oh, hmmm, here's an e-mail from Gary just an hour ago - weird the title is in Norwegian:

Hold deg klar, snart kan du sikre været

The e-mail says:

"My Norwegian is almost completely gone. What does this subject message say?"

My head explodes a little bit - it isn't pretty. I whip out an e-mail (OK, I'm not real proud of it, but in the heat of the moment ...)

I reply:

"I believe it says "You're a shit ..."

Your Norwegian IS almost gone, where did you come up with a sentence about perfectly clear weather?

You didn't call me this morning - you're in trouble ...

Me"

~~~

I feel like I fell into a verbal food fight and just got smacked in the face with a pie ...

So he whips out this e-mail then scurries off to bed without calling - the CHICKEN!!!

Man it is hot here, the monotony of it is just boring. The teeensy bit of rain we got yesterday was fun - it broke up the endless hours of sun and over 100 degree temps - but lasted, what 1o minutes?

I am so ready for fall, or winter or whatever the hell comes next in this part of the country ...

*****

Addendum:

A big Ooops just might be in order here.

Called Gary (it is 7:00am - so not too bad) got him out of bed to yell at him ... Asked him where he got the sentence (like I said his Norwegian cannot even compete with his Chinese). He seemed all confused and said that KLM sent it about The Netherlands. He mentioned that they probably have perfect weather there too right now....

He said he didn't call because he left the phone off the charger and the charge ran down, so maybe not a chicken either ...

... or maybe it is all an act ...


... or maybe I am just paranoid ...

Temperature Wars

Phone rings this morning.

I roll over, smile, pick it up: "Hey! How was your day?"

We talk, he has been out shopping for a screen to go with his projector I took him. His class would only hold 20 students and he is getting about 28 - 30 and the room gets hot, so he moved the class to the overflow - thus now needing a screen to project on. Oh! And while he was out, he bought a thermometer - so he can now tell me EXACTLY what the temperature in his bedroom as he goes to sleep is ... it was 19C at that moment. I guess thrusting in the knife wasn't good enough - he needed to go twist it too ...

In his defense, he did say he has been meaning to get one - he walks to work and on Saturdays takes a 30K bike ride - tying to ramp up to 50K in training for his 200K race he signed up for - and for both these events, he would like to know what the temperature is to dress appropriately, but using it to make me jealous seems to make him happy so I'm going with that is why he bought it ...

I moan and call him mean things. When living in Norway - our thermometers were also Celsius and even if I cannot quickly come up with the conversion in my head like Gary can, I know that 20C was PERFECT! That is 68F and was just right - not too hot, not too cold - so yeah, jealous - anything cooler makes the down duvet he is sleeping under is just that much more snugly!

He said it would probably be cooler in the morning ... said he would call and let me know.

My only consolation? He will be here a week from tomorrow for a week and I don't see it cooling down any time soon ...

Torture

Every morning, I wake up to the phone ringing ...

It is Gary.

It is the end of his day - the day I am just starting and he is just ending. He is headed to bed, so grabs the phone, gets in bed and calls.

It rings, I wake up, smile, roll over and answer. "Hey there, how was your day?"

We talk about his day, his weekend plans, things I need to do, Ryan, the usual. He tells me today that the maid (him) has done all my laundry I left and washed the sheets on my bed (two queens plus one very tall man means we start in the same bed, but I sneak out later so both of us will get some sleep). I thank him and tell him for the 15th time I could have done it when I got back.

We talk for how ever long we feel like - it is free. We have a Vonage phone hooked up to our internet with a 281 area code.


Then he does it, he plunges the knife in:

"Just opened my window - nice cold breeze coming in (winter is winding down in Australia right now), the lights on the bridge are glowing (his bedroom has an 'L' shaped window from floor to ceiling - so bitchin' view), the room is the perfect temperature."

I tell him I saw my thermostat hit 109 degrees again yesterday. How I miss the nights in Australia (and the days!). How I miss that view! Man, I even miss HIM when he is being mean! I can't believe that just last week I was whining about being cold! And with Gary coming home in both August and September, I can't justify going over until the end of September, so it will be Spring by the time I get there again - no more perfect winter days - apparently just perfect Spring days.

Oooooh! And maybe flowers to photograph!

"Love you, miss you, bye" our conversation is over and I am awake, might as well get up - turn up the air conditioners, start my day. It is lonely right after a phone call, but I know 3:30pm is coming ....

That's when he wakes up ... and calls:

"Hey there! Good Morning!"


... and it begins all over again.

Just Got a Call ...

... from Discover Fraud Prevention.

Hmmm, let me see? How did my day go?

Get up.

Start the budget, get Quicken updated, ran a 'how am I doing' report, got discouraged, exited out of Quicken. Got on at the bank, transferred funds to where they belong. Pay bills. Decided I had been such a good girl I could surf, play with photos, whatever for awhile ...

Ryan's up. Look at my list of things to do - hmmm - call UTSA for über parking pass Ryan was on the wait list for, pay tuition. Page him (yes, I page him using the phone because I am really that lazy to make my way to his room and get him). He comes down, we call, we find out what to do with the parking pass.

While we are in a UTSA mood, why don't we pay his tuition?

Done.

Since we will be going next Wednesday to wait for the cable guy (no, not for cable - Internet), and Ryan doesn't work today - it has been designated our 'apartment shopping' day.

Head to the kitchen for the same 'five finger discount' his father had when moving out:

A good start, so there's that, but not quite enough. Head to Target (sorry - so HATE Wal-Mart - can't do it ...).

Come home with a back seat full of kitchen stuff (the couch he bought from someone while I was in Australia). Odd, doesn't look like $500.00 worth of stuff ...

OK, well, I did buy our über (apparently my 'word of the day') expensive light bulbs for our kitchen since I came home to 6 out of 8 burned out - go figure. And a bit of food, and um, there were a few things that just happened to 'fall' into one of our two baskets:

Oooops, guess I will have to keep them!

So, since I used the Discover card for tuition, a bill and Target (I use it whenever I can - I'm loving the 'cash back' program) it was a busy day for my Discover - especially since you can't use Discover in Europe - ooops I feel like Australia is Europe - very Europeanish - but won't take Discover also - I didn't use it for 3 weeks.

So yeah, fraud prevention just wanted to know if I was on a crazy ass spending spree ...

... told them yes.

Tired - spending money does that to me, and spending and hour and a half at Target ...


... or is it jet lag?

Home

Home!

Or, at least I think it is my home. Do you have any idea what an 18 year old can do to a house in 3 weeks? Pretty much I described it to Gary last night as his bedroom, just spread over a larger square footage! Actually wasn't TOO bad and got him up this morning to pick it all up since Alma, my very pregnant house cleaner, is coming at noon. I am sure after that my mood will pick up!

The trip was OK so far as a trip that is 29 hours from doorstep to doorstep can be. I discovered what LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) stands for: Ladies Are Xcluded. Got off my 14 hour flight from Australia, needed to visit the ladies room but decided to check in and get through security first (mainly because I could not find a restroom). I SO know you want to read this story .... Anyhoo - got in the first line - seriously: 200 people, at least, in front of me. The line to check in to Continental was out the door of the building.

Done. Checked in - got my boarding pass - cool.

Looked around for a rest room, still no go so on to the security line - also for the non-god-like status people - no special 'elite access' for me ... yet. I assume at some point I will earn enough miles to get to go through the 'special' (very short) lines ... So this time, get in a Disneyland-ish type line just to go up the escalator - at least triple the size of the Continental line. I sighed and stepped in line.

Halfway through I spot a restroom - yeah - now that I am 233 instead of 548 I'm gonna step out of line and go - so I waited, and waited and waited. Homeland Security decided I was not a threat and stamped my boarding pass and on to my gate I go ...

Get there and the restrooms have a 'Closed for Construction' sign and the doors are boarded up. I said some choice words, retraced my steps to the first official person I saw and asked where the nearest restrooms were - he pointed me the way and off I went.

I was dumbfounded that this was the nearest restroom to where I was actually standing when I asked the person (not) and so I snapped photos on my way back:

I believe that was at least 2 km people. I decided that couldn't be the nearest so I headed back - taking that sequence of photos and continued on past my gate (which looked like a dead end, but mysteriously split off on both sides via very narrow hallways (can not figure out who is in charge of remodeling LAX but they really need to be fired) and found a restroom - and a mecca of shopping! So I decided to spend the rest of my time in LA plopped down on a chair near there until 1/2 hour before my flight.

Time to go! Get up - turn the corner to head to the restroom one more time (when they were handing out bladders in Heaven I was obviously over in some other line ....) and saw a sign: "Closed for repairs". My head exploded just a tiny bit.

Boarded the plane and ... home!

Yeah - you needed to know that.

I didn't realize what 3 weeks worth of mail would look like - pretty much a ginormous pile - which I weaned down to only the important stuff:

Which is basically why you got the story "Lori and the Loo at LAX" - don't EVEN want to start going through this.

Oh well ....

... better start!

Let the Fun Begin ...

While it may only be Sunday afternoon for you, it is bright and early Monday morning for me ... the day I go home. Will get packed, head to the airport and will eventually see Ryan picking me up at 6:00pm Houston time - only 27 short hours from now. My Monday justs keeps on going, and going and going ....

Blog silence till I recuperate ...

Sunday Morning

Good Sunday Morning to ya from the land down under! As my panoramic view shows, we are of to a stellar Sunday - my last day here in Australia. Took the panoramic shot since there was a hot air balloon floating about - just looks like a spec in the photo (unless you blow it up).

Yesterday we went exploring on an island close to Brisbane and came home disappointed that we could not really go exploring and off roading in our 4 wheel drive car, because we did not have the proper permit - available only online.

Did get to the side showing the mainland and saw the Glass House Mountains all neatly lined up in a row for us to take photographs of. Problem was they were too far away and the photo was hazy and indistinct so I posterized it - you can at least see the shape of the mountains this way:

Gonna be late for church ...

Gotta go.