Wednesday, April 25, 2007

An adventure requiring more recovery time


My trip to Tennessee turned out to be a little easier to start than I expected. I had fully anticipated that the flights would be too full for me to make it but suddenly on Wednesday the red-eye to IAD was moved to a larger plane, and there would suddenly be a seat for me. I rushed home and packed my things in 45 minutes and grabbed a cab back to the BART station. I made the flight and found myself in Nashville 15 minutes before most of the rest of my family arrived. We rented a Hyundai Santa Fe, which turned out to be a nice piece of machinery and off to Shelbyville we went. I managed to forget a ton of important stuff like jeans and ties, but other than that I was pretty well prepared. We managed to have far more silly fun than people gathered for a funeral should have. It turns out things like using farm equipment, lifting stuff, cleaning stalls, taking care of livestock, and riding the 4 wheeler are all pretty fun. I certainly don't look too sad above. The services for my uncle were actually very nice. I still haven't learned to like viewings, but sometimes they are a necessary evil. The memorial itself was really great, the minister said something wonderful about how Carson was a man who needed a brace to walk, but never ever let that be an excuse not to do something that many able bodied people would not be able to handle. There was however an awkward interruption when someone (Despite the minister's warning at the beginning) allowed their phone to go off in the middle of the final prayer. Here's a tip: when warned to turn your phone off do it, and skip the cheesy polyphonic "when the saints go marching in" ring tone. We spent my next to last night in town playing some poker, and the next morning got up, kicked everyone else out of the house and had some breakfast at IHOP and a Cherry Lime Aid at Sonic. Then my Uncle and I accomplished a good deal of farm work for 2 city boys and went out for Mexican food and beers for dinner. Monday brought another early day where we got out the door a little late but still should have made it to the airport on time. We stayed on the street level rather than taking the freeway, and it became painfully obvious we weren't going to be on time. I made the timing worse by needing to stop to throw up. We scrambled to the airport and I got to the gate to see the door already closed. I started to feel worse, and was running back and forth to the bathroom as quickly as I could sit down. I took a nap in the airport, but I couldn't hold down any water or any of the pills I was taking so I checked myself into a motel and decided to sleep it off. Turns out 3 other members of the family were busy going through the same ordeal. I finally made it home late Tuesday but it meant I totally blew off the training I had at work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Here's my favorite picture of the whole weekend, the three most mismatched amigos ever. On the left sleepy Asthmatic kitty in the middle the Guinea fowl that believes with all its heart that its a cat and at the bottom right the skittish cat whose best friend is a guinea fowl.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Here's to brother Todd, the best of the best

Patio Wine

W's parents were in town last week, so it was the perfect opportunity to bust out our new wine decanter. Todd graciously picked it up for us at Ikea during his visit, and we just needed guests to use it. So if you visit us in early spring you can expect a nice glass of wine out on the patio, and it might look something like this. This week brings sad news that my Uncle Carson is losing his battle against cancer. I am going to attempt a trip to Tennessee to pay my repsects. Unfortunately its a small airport and with the weather being as screwy as it has been the last couple of weeks, the chances are not real great, but It is surely worth the effort.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Thanks Easter Bunny!

easter boquet
flower macro
The Easter bunny knows that we're not eating any candy at our house, so instead it brought us these nice flowers. Thanks easter bunny for watching our waist-lines and making our house a little festive.