Not much urge to write.

Location, At home, CA

The urge to write deserted me this past week or so.

After my trip to Wisconsin, I got a cold. Haven’t had one of those in a long time especially the sore throat, cough, head-in-a-vise type of cold. Mostly I laid around the house and read.

I did manage to buy on-line a new cover for our gazebo. The old one lasted 3 years but the sun finally got to it. Craig had reinforced the pockets where the roof poles were inserted which helped. This time I also bought a UV protectorant and sprayed the whole material before I installed it. Craig again also reinforced the pockets so hopefully we will get 3 or 4 years out of this cover. Clyda has been after us to get the cover up as it protects the plants on the patio.

I ran the Honda generators yesterday. They were last used while I was in Quartzsite in January. It took a few more pulls to get them started but both ran fine.

Some time ago Clyda said “Why don’t we fly to Houston in April to see Tim and family?” That got me to thinking so I checked the Princess website to see if there was a cruise scheduled out of Houston during our visit. Well, yes there is! So I checked prices and booked a 7 day cruise through Costco. Got a good deal on a mini-suite. This will be a first for us as usually we book a balcony.

We will fly to Houston on Wednesday; visit the family until Saturday when we board the ship. The following Saturday we return from the cruise and transfer to Bush International Airport and pick up a rental car. We will keep the car until our return flight early Monday Morning.

All of this sounds simple until you know the details. Our original flight was on American Airlines. I bought Clyda a ticket using her miles plus a few more I purchased for her. My ticket was bought for a higher price as no seat was available at the regular price. American then announced they were ceasing operations April 1^st at our local airport so I called and had our flights changed to USAIR. Of course we lost any advantage we had through American such as seat selection, etc.

Also, during all this, the oil spill in Galveston Bay kept our cruise ship from leaving for 3 days. This however has all been cleared up and we should be good to go next Saturday.

Meanwhile, Tim and family are on a cruise around New Zealand courtesy of Diane’s parents. They were due home this afternoon but got delayed a day because of an over booked flight. Qantas Airlines put them up in a hotel overnight and booked them in business class for the trip home on the Airbus A-380, a double decker airplane. Business class has lie-flat seats so you can sleep. I am so jealous!!!!

Tim just called from Sydney to update us on their schedule. They will be home tomorrow afternoon after 13 hours in the air to Los Angeles and then a 3 hour flight to Houston. unfortunately, that gets them home only 2 days before we get there. I am sure we will all survive.

End of an era.

Location, At home, CA

It is indeed an end of an era.

My mother passed away on March 6^th. She would have been 98 years old on March 30^th. She had been doing quite well but the last few weeks found her on Hospice care at the retirement home.  She had quit eating and that in itself signals the end. She was in no discomfort and passed with her children at her side (except for me).

I made hurried travel arrangements to Central Wisconsin for Saturday as the funeral was scheduled for Monday morning. There were a few hiccups in the travel as I missed my flight out of Chicago so had to stay in a hotel arranged by the airline until Sunday afternoon.

Monday was nice and warm at 53 degrees so no freezing weather to put up with at the cemetery. There were about 100 family and friends at the church for the funeral mass and about 75 for lunch afterward.

On Tuesday my sister Judy and brother Ray met at Judy’s house and got all the cards and thank you’s arranged. On Friday they and my brother Dennis met at my hotel and went over the final details of closing out an era.

I returned home on Friday about midnight.