Tuesday, November 23, 2010

RIP

One member of our little household has escaped much notice in my blog of late, although the health of said member has been on our minds. I'm speaking, of course, about Ric Flair, our beta fighting fish, named after one of Dave's favorite wrestlers. Just writing that I can hear Dave's voice doing the imitation. Anyway, for some time now, Ric has exhibited signs of decline. Not only had his tail disintegrated, but his color was diminishing by the day. As well, I cleaned his water each week, but in the last month or so, the water would get icky after only a few days. I scoured the internet hoping to discover the source of his problems, to no avail. And so, this morning, this is how I found him:
I'd assumed that he would float to the top if he died, but it seems that is not the case. Last week I even went to the pet store inquiring about his condition, however, once again they were stymied. I do hope he didn't suffer.

Yesterday, after posting, I remembered I wanted to show you some photos I took of the back yard in all it's ambient light glory:

Fantastic, right? We were enjoying our dinner poolside, I think, maybe last Thursday. It's still warm here most days. In fact, on Saturday at the show, after about two hours, my hair went into ponytail mode because even though I was wearing a sleeveless dress, I was roasting!

That certainly won't be the case in just a few days from now. I have no idea what clothes to pack for this trip. What, pray tell, will I be comfortable in sitting for hours on end in a UHaul truck? According to the weather forecasts it will be about 50 degrees colder than what I'm used to. I'm definitely ruling out sleeveless!

Bruce has jobs galore under construction with three breaking ground next Monday. He, of course, is pretty stressed out. And who can blame him? Nevertheless, here's the plan:
  • Fly to Chicago on Thanksgiving day, hopefully J & A have found a place to celebrate.
  • Oddly enough, UHaul doesn't open until 9 in the morning Friday, with the scheduled movers arriving at 10 to load the truck. In the high rise where they live, one must reserve the elevator for this kind of thing. So much for an early start.
  • Drive, drive, and drive. There are three routes one can take from Chicago to Austin. Not sure just yet which one to choose. Either down through Memphis, across Arkansas, into Oklahoma, and straight down to Austin. Another route sends you West right off the bat, heading into St. Louis, through Missouri, Oklahoma, and South to Austin. I can't recall the other one, however, I've got an atlas to study. Maybe, just maybe, Miss Out & About Photography, might just get a picture or two out of the deal.
  • ETA--Austin, probably sometime Sunday. 
  • Fly home on Monday afternoon, after hopefully helping them get settled. 
Seriously, I can't believe it's only two days away.

I found a few interesting things to share if you're interested:http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/nov/21/pencil-sharpen-service Crazy, right?

And then there's this:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/11/16/travel/20101121HOURS.html Bruce and I visited here many years ago and what an interesting place it is! As I recall we walked about a mile, pulling our suitcases behind us on the bumpy sidewalks, before finding our hotel. Some of the most beautiful photographs we have are from this very place.

Yesterday I laid a bit low after the busy weekend. I did, however, go to the bank! On my way home I saw this on our street corner:
I just had to stop and check it out. Turns out the car is a 16th birthday present. The celebrant's friends came by to decorate:
Clever girls.

It's that time again. Breakfast. Polasek. Bruce returns. Planning. Have a nice day; I plan to.

1 comment:

Nancy said...

The backyard looks FANTASTIC!!! I emailed you the route to take from Google maps-I know it is the easiest.Buy cheap sweats from walmart to wear, you are gonna freeze

A Week Ago Tuesday