Remembrances and Plans

It has been a year since Dad passed away. The past couple of years have been weird and challenging and foggy but things are on the up-swing.

The year prior to Dad's death, I was in a depressive fog that didn't really allow me to fully enjoy my life. Plus, there was Dad's declining health that we all had to contend with....but I can't blame my non-engagement in life on that. Yes, the last couple of months before his passing were spent pretty consumed with helping take care of him, but that doesn't account for the other 9 months. You would have thought that I would have been happy...I mean, I was working at a job that valued me, I got to take a great trip to Hawaii and give something wonderful to my folks, I got to witness my friend Sara wed the perfect man for her, and I know there are so many other really good things about that year that I'm not recognizing primarily because of this weird fog that I was in where I felt like I was just watching everything but not really participating in it and hearing this horrible voice in my head saying that I didn't belong.

Then, this past year, I spent much of it still in this fog. Again, I've had some great times. This past year has been spent on really reconnecting with my family. I've spent more time with my Mom and my sister than I have in a very long time. Mom and I have taken some great trips together and realized that we are pretty okay traveling together. I feel more at ease with my sister than I have in a very long time. But still, for the majority of 2014 I was still just watching my life pass me by. I still wasn't engaging in living my life and at this point in time, I really need to stop this whole watching of the life and truly lean into my life and live it.....this is it......embrace being alive.

With that being said, I'm making the effort to embrace it. I admit that I may still not be the most gregarious person on the block and when I'm with people I will still be more of a stand back and watch than a jump in a participate....but part of that is because I really do enjoy watching other people and don't feel the need to be the center of anything...usually.

I am also tapping into my creative side more and more and, while I may not be any good, I am going to post here more of my artistic endeavors...so be prepared.

So, enough confessing and emotional vomiting..... On with the day......

Farewell Tour - Enchanted Rock

This past weekend was great! There was lots of family time and there is nothing better, especially when much of that time is spent laughing. 

The weekend started out with Thanksgiving at my sister's in-law's. We all brought contributions to the meal and then ate and ate and ate with some football watching thrown in as a bonus. For those of us that aren't big football watchers, a game called 'Head's Up' was played. This was a lot of fun as it is a game where you have to guess a word of phrase while being given clues by your teammate (although we didn't play with teams but just had everybody shouting out clues). 

On Friday, mom, my sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, and I all piled into the car and drove down to Fredericksburg, TX. We got down there mid-afternoon and dropped our stuff at the hotel, which was a block off the Main Street, then walked up to the main drag and walked around, did some minor shopping, and lots of people watching. We grabbed dinner at a really great restaurant called Rathskeller. After dinner, we stopped for some fudge and then walked down to the square and watched the Christmas tree lighting then headed back to the hotel. It wasn't even 8:00 yet, but Fredericksburg is one of those small towns that pretty much shuts down when the sun goes down. We all gathered in my and mom's room and played a couple of rousing rounds of Head's Up and once again finished the night with lots of laughs. 

On Saturday, we got around early so that we could get to Enchanted Rock State Park early before the crowds showed up (and they did show up). Mom made the decision to take the path around the rock and left some of dad there. Marti, Graham, Kathleen, Colin, and I headed up the rock. Graham and the kids headed off like mountain goats while Marti and I took our time and enjoyed the scenery (and breathing). When we all reached the top we found a nice area without other people around and took a moment to send Dad on his way. 

I know he will enjoy this view. 

We then did some more mountain goating around: 

And saw some beautiful scenery:

When we finally got off the rock, we headed north towards home, but made a detour to Dublin, TX where they used to bottle cane suger Dr. Pepper. Sadly, they no longer make it there, but we were able to experiment with some other cane sugar sodas...and I think all sodas need to go back to using cane sugar rather than corn syrup, but that is just me. 

After that we headed home and relaxed. It was a great weekend and I'm so thankful for the memories we made. 

Labor Day Weekend

I really didn't have many expectations for this long weekend. I mean, I did have a list of things to do, but in general, I assumed it would be a pretty uneventful weekend. That plan changed when I got into my car on Friday evening.

I headed out to my church where a group was putting on a play. As I'm driving down the road one of the fun warning lights starts blaring orange at me from my dashboard. Now, this is a light that has come on multiple times. Each time it comes on, I pull out the owners manual to check to see what it means and what I need to do about it. This particular light has something to do with the emissions system and if it continues to shine, then I should take the car to the dealership. So, I make the decision that I will take the car to the dealership on Tuesday and make a determination as to whether it will be more expensive to fix the issue or just trade the car in. I didn't come to this decision lightly. This light has been coming on and then going off for probably a year (yeah, I just kept ignoring it because it WOULD go off a couple of days after it turned on). The car is 12 years old and has given me 12 great years and included getting me to and from California without issue. So, Friday evening I pull back into my garage with that being the plan....dealership for diagnosis on Tuesday.

Saturday I road with my friend Jennifer and her beau Barry to the Watson's house for a chance to wish Randall a happy birthday and to meet the soon to be very famous Avery (check out everything about her arrival at her Wee Watson blog). It was great seeing Sara and Randall, and of course Avery. Sara did ask if I wanted to hold her and I immediately threw my hands up in the air and ran away...I'm really not much of a kid person. Avery is TINY, she came a little earlier than expected so even tinier than the normal baby that I would still run away from. I'm really not big on holding kids until they can manage the weight of their own head and don't require me to protect it or "watch it". And, to be 100% honest, I'm not really good with kids when they get older. I think I had 'baby pangs' for like 15 minutes in my early 30s when all my friends were having babies and I thought briefly that it would be a good thing for me to consider and that I was missing something by not having kids, but those feelings quickly diminished and I realize now that I don't really have a maternal bone in my body. I love ALL the kids that are in my life, I just don't know what to do with them and I can't relate to them, and I channel my great grandmother in thinking that children should be seen and not heard, or they need to be sent outside to play in traffic.

This brings us to Saturday evening. I still have my car on my mind....and I catch an ad on television before I can skip through the commercials that says that there are all these Labor Day specials at all these dealerships, so I think to myself, "Self, perhaps you should investigate...." So, that is what I did. I started investigating. I pulled up Kelly Blue Book to see what my car would be valued at (yeah, not much) and then started looking for acceptable alternatives.

Sunday comes around and I headed back out to my car to drive to church. This time when I started it up the glaring orange warning signal was no longer alight.....is my car trying to convince me that I don't need to get a new car? Is he teasing me into a lull of acceptance so that it will leave me on the side of the road stranded? I pondered and wondered. I decided that I wouldn't tempt fate and drive the 70 miles over and back to celebrate my nephew's birthday with the family and instead returned to my little den of vehicle investigation.

Monday morning I woke up and decided to heck with it, I don't care if my budget isn't ready for it, I'm just going to bite the bullet and get a new car. My original plan was to follow my head (after days....okay technically weeks and months and years of research because I have been thinking about this since I returned to Texas in 2009) and go to Honda and get a replacement CRV. However, I had to pass a Chevy dealership on my way to the Honda dealership and I felt that my heart really wanted me to at least look at and test drive an Equinox. Well, to shorten the story a little, a couple of hours later, I ended up driving off the lot with a pretty new white Equinox. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that I probably could have gotten with a Honda (e.g., a sunroof, but I really doubt if I would ever open the sunroof) but it suits my needs and it is quite a bit roomier and more comfortable than my old CRV was. And, I guess I'll figure out how to make the budget work.

During the negotiations, I did text Sara and let her know that I was copying her and Randall, and she reached out to their neighbor who happens to be over the Used Car department and I don't know if strings were pulled or what, but he gave me a pretty good deal on my trade-in, so I was happy about that.

And, as a side note, I said above that I've been thinking about getting a new car for about 4 years now. When the topic first came up, my dad said that I should look at the GMC Terrain or, you guessed it, the Chevy Equinox....they are essentially the same vehicle. So, dad is still influencing me in one way or another....Now I just need to come up with a name for this new baby..... Oh, and Leo doesn't know what to think of it. 

Family Reunion/Saying Farewll

Last week I took a trip up to Illinois and Missouri with my Mom and Marti, my sister to see family that we haven't seen in a very long time (in my case it has probably been a decade). We first went to my Mom's childhood home town and met up with my Uncle Jack, his wife Sandi, and their cousin Francis Ann.

Sandi, Marti, and Mom at the restaurant 

The six of us went to a wonderful restaurant on the Illinois river for dinner and then drove around in the country in the rain trying to find our way back home.

The next morning Mom, Marti, and I got up and wandered around the town while Mom pointed out all of the places where she had fond (and not so fond) memories from childhood and her high school years. Marti and I reminisced about our visits to Grandma and Grandpa when we were younger. It is funny seeing all of these places for the first time in over a decade and I am amazed at how much smaller they all are now....of course everything is bigger through the eyes of a child.

Pike County Courthouse

Water Tower

Mill in Town 

Later than afternoon, the three of us drove up to my cousin, Debbie's house and we got to see and visit with all of our cousins on my Mom's side of the family for the first time in many, many moons. Again, all these little kids have grown up into adults with kids of their own and it is amazing to watch the progress of the generations. Debbie lives on 8 acres out in the country and they have beaten back nature to create a beautiful home with a park like setting.

Pagoda and pond at Debbie's

Most of my cousins and their kids and grandkids

 After visiting with all the family for the evening and again the next morning, the three of us loaded the car back up and drove over to my Grandma's (my Dad's home town) where we met up with my brother-in-law and niece and nephew....along with all of my Dad's kin. We first all went out to dinner at a local restaurant and sat around and visited. Then, the majority of us drove out to my grandparents' farm where my Dad was born (yes, he was born at home) and where he grew up. My Grandma really wanted to come with us, but she is 94 and has lost the majority of her sight and we were able to convince her (or rather my Mom and Aunt) to go on back to her place and rest as there was a lot happening the following day. While out at the farm, we all loaded up into the trucks and drove then walked to the top of what is referred to as Walnut Hill as it is covered in Walnut trees.

Sunset over the Farm

Most of the younger generation rode in the backend

Enjoying nature

Aren't these a bunch of great looking kids?!?

Sun setting through the walnut grove

It was one of my Dad's favorite spots on the farm and has an amazing view out across the countryside. There, my Mom said a few words and then scattered some of Dad's ashes:

Mom spreading the ashes

This was the first stop on the Dick D. Farewell Tour and we have many more places to spread Dad around.

I recently was reminded of the following poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye:

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

I think this poem is very fitting as we spread Dad around and 'throw' him to the winds.

The following day we had a large family lunch with some of my Dad's cousins and then headed to a small country church where we had a Memorial Service for Dad so that my Grandma and cousins who couldn't make it to Texas for Dad's internment would have a chance to say goodbye. Again, it is so amazing to see all the kids growing up and I know it was a joy to Grandma to be able to have all of us together again (yes, I was reprimanded for staying away so long).

Podium at the Memorial

Grandma with all her grandkids and all but one great grandkid

Afterwards, there were snacks and lots of visiting with Dad's old high school friends (he had a graduating class of something like 6 people). The day was topped off with heading to the Burger Bar, which is a mainstay burger joint in this very small Missouri town and got burgers and shakes or soft server ice cream and just remembered better times. 

Birthday Memories

A year ago today I was having a wonderful adventure with my Dad. We were zip lining through the Hawaii rainforest laughing and racing and having the time of our lives. Later, we met up back with mom and headed back to the hotel where we got cleaned up and ready to go to our evening luau, where my Dad actually got up learned how to hula with my Mom and me. 

This was just one day of a great trip with my parents to celebrate their 50th state to visit, their 50th anniversary year, and my birthday. 

That is how I spent my birthday last year...this year I'm spending my birthday doing super fun things like grocery shopping, some laundry, reading, and letting my mind wander to some of the best memories of my dad (and of course thanking my mom for what she went through some mmrryuphh years ago). 

30 Days

I can't believe it has been a month since my dad passed away and a month since I've posted anything. 

We had his memorial and internment at the National Cemetary yesterday, which is probably why it is all really hitting home now. People ask me how I'm doing and in general I'm doing fine...yes I have those moments when I just break down in big sobs and my heart just aches. These times are typically when I think about things that he didn't get to do or finish or when I think of some question or piece of advice that I would seek from him and boom it hits me that I can't ask for his advice anymore. I know that eventually these aches will fade but for now, even a month later, I still feel fragile (if I can borrow a term from my mom). 

The service yesterday was really moving...and I thought it wouldn't affect me as much as it did (even though on the drive over to my mom's house I started crying and just kept asking to get through the day and I'd be alright). We had an Honor Guard present my mom with a flag and then they played Taps, which I've heard thousands of times, especially on the A&M campus, but yesterday....whoa...it brought the house down. We then had a friend of my parents speak a few words about dad and his life and that was it. Dad was never one for a big to do, and I think we honored him in the way he would have wanted it. 

After the ceremony at the Cemetary we all headed back to my mom's place where she provided a luncheon of bar-b-que served up with a side of laughter. My uncle, aunt, and three cousins were able to make it in town from Tucson, Kansas City, and Portland so we had a great time catching up and laughing and telling stories. We could not have asked for a better day. And I didn't realize until today, when I took a two hour nap, how draining all those emotions had been. 

But, we are moving on at this point. Yesterday was the first stop on the Dick Dodds Farewell tour. So, do I miss him? At times, yes, very much but I know that part of him is always with me as I am very much my father's daughter. 

Passing

Today at a little after 12:15 AM on February 12, 2014 I lost the most important and influential man in my life, my dad.

He had been battling cancer for about two and a half years and last fall he took a turn for the worse and in December we engaged hospice to help him (and us) with the final months of his life. We were able to keep him at home and I packed up some things and moved into my parents' house so that I could be here to provide assistance to my Mom and keeping Dad comfortable.

Last week he slipped into an unresponsive state (perhaps a coma, but it was never titled that) and yesterday around 5:30 he started to have pretty ragged breathing. My sister came over to stay with us and Dad's three girls sat in the room with him through the evening talking and laughing and telling tales. At about 10:30 PM, we decided that he had developed a bit of a rhythm and decided to lay down and catch some shut eye. At about midnight, my sister woke up to come upstairs to check on me and Mom woke up to give Dad some medicine. Within about 15 minutes, Mom called us girls down as Dad had taken his last breath. He had been sleeping with his mouth open for days and when Mom first called us down to say our final goodbyes, his mouth was still opened. As we sat there, keeping vigil, his mouth slowly closed and he got the most peaceful, sweet smile on his face.

Within a couple of hours, we had hospice arrive to attend to the final arrangements for us, which was wonderful and just held each other...my Mom, my sister, and me.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about my Dad...so I'm not even going to try.

Dad - I know that you are still there keeping an eye on us all. We are going to be okay and you are going to be sorely missed but we are so happy that you are no longer suffering. I love you. 

My Nemisis - Cherry Jello

One of our family's traditional foods at Thanksgiving is Cherry Jello....well, Black Cherry Jello with black cherries mixed in. For years my Mom has made it, but I have had my hand at it once or twice. However, it hasn't always been a cherry walk in the park....and I'm not alone in my struggle with the jello.

The way we make the jello is we take two cans of dark, pitted cherries and two packets of dark, cherry jello. You make the jello the normal way, but substitute the cold water with the juice from the cans of cherries. You put the jello in the fridge for a couple of hours to set, but you don't want to let it set all the way because you want to pour the fruit into the jello while it is still in a semi-liquid state. If all goes well, it turns out beautiful and smooth with even amounts of cherries and the family loves it.

However, here are the things that have gone wrong: 

• My mom misread the cans one year and put cherries with pits into the jello. She then had to dig them all out after it set and pit the cherries then mix them back into the jello....That would not have been a pretty jello year. (Of course, I ask you, who cans cherries WITH the pits?)
• I made jello one year for Thanksgiving, but ended up with vertigo and unable to drive on the morning of Thanksgiving, so I ended up with a big bowl of jello and no turkey and the rest of the family had no jello.
• Multiple times has the jello been forgotten in the fridge and fully set before the cherries were mixed in. Not pretty jello years, but still good flavored.

And then there was this year....

For some reason, I blanked out on the kind of cherries that I was supposed to get and when I looked back through my messages from my Mom she had a picture of a can of tart cherries, which she uses for cherry pies.

Well, I got confused and ended up buying tart cherries. Turns out she was showing me the manufacturing label rather than the type of cherries. So, I made the jello with the tart cherries. As I was pouring the cherries into the setting jello, I realized thought that the cherries didn't look quite right and realized my error.  I struggled with whether I should just let it be and go with the tart cherry jello.

However, after much internal wrangling, I decided that I would head back to Walmart on the eve of Thanksgiving and get the right kind of cherries and jello and start over. As much as I wanted to bring the wrong jello, and hopefully get out of ever having to provide a dish for Thanksgiving again in the future, I decided that it would be better for me to suck it up and make the jello. It is one of my dad's favorite dishes at the meal and I didn't want to disappoint him.

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

Thanks for being the best dad! You challenge me and celebrate with me and go on adventures with me and can sit and be quiet and read with me. You instruct and guide and help me up when I make mistakes and fall down. I carry you with me where ever I go.

I love you and look forward to many more adventures and quiet moments together.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 19

Well, I couldn't be grateful for my Mom without being equally grateful for my Dad.

I'm grateful for my dad, this year especially, because he is on the mend. He was diagnosed with cancer in February and has been battling it via chemo therapy for many months. He recently finished up his last round and went back for another scan. We are all thrilled to learn that the cancer is gone, for the most part, and we expect many, many more years of him being around.

My dad has always been sort of a moral, ethical, career, life touchstone for me. While Mom has been the comfort and encouragement that I've needed, Dad has been the voice in the back of my head...much like my conscience. I've always thought about what I was about to do as to whether Dad would be proud or angry or discouraged in me. I've always wanted Dad to be proud of me, and I think I've accomplished that....and now I'm working really hard to not worry so much about what Dad is going to think because I know that he will love me....no matter what.

So, I am grateful for having two parents who love and respect me (and whom I love and respect and am in awe of).

And, since I put some embarrassing pictures of my mom out here yesterday, I have to post some of my dad as well....

Dad would be willing to entertain us by coming in from the garage
(you can tell he was working on something based on his attire) and
show how he could do a headstand in the middle of the floor.
The man had skills!!

For a brief couple of years, we were the proud owners of a
Model T Ford. Dad was never really big on fixing up engines
so nothing really came of this car, but it did run briefly...

Dad is an amazing artist and woodcraftsman. This is in one of his
classes that he has taken to learn how to make amazing sculpture
out of wood...I tell you, I come from crazy, talented stock!!

I just love this picture. This is Dad and me standing on the beach
in Florida one Christmas, just watching the waves come in...

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday, so for the time being he is officially older than my mom (they were born in the same year) and for the next couple of months she can hold that over him.

This is a picture of the two of them about 4 years ago as they were taking one of their many driving tours. This particular one was of the D.C./Virginia area.

Dad has always been a ramblin' man... This is a picture of him with his brother (he is on the Pacific side of the Continental Divide). His folks thought it was important to travel and discover these United States and he continues to do that with mom and his family to this day.

And just on a side note, if I'm not mistaken, today also would have been my paternal Grandparents' wedding anniversary. Here is a shot of the family at their 50th anniversary celebration....oh how we have changed and grown since then.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Dad -

You are the best father a girl could want and I wish you a very happy 70th birthday.

You have given me so much and taught me so much and helped to shape the person that I am today. I thank you for that.

Thank you for protecting me when I needed it, pushing me when you had to, being stern and kind and honest and funny and challenging and most of all for loving me.

I love you.

Andrea

Flashback Friday

This time last year my folks came out to visit me in San Francisco. This is a table in a little Mexican restaurant that we went to for dinner one evening. My dad's hands are on the right, mine are on the left...we hold our hands in a very similar manner...

Drive "Home" Day Four

This morning Dad and I got up and around nice and early and headed out over the Hoover Dam. The water level is REALLY low...kinda scary where all the water has gone to, but I'm not going to go down that path of save the environment....

Really didn't have a whole lot of excitement to discuss today. We left Hoover Dam and headed out to Flagstaff and then on to Albuquerque.

Diane commented yesterday that the drive to Albuquerque is really long.... I'd have to agree, it felt like we just kept driving and driving. There was a lot of beautiful scenery. Here in Albuquerque we checked in to our hotel and the weirdest coincidence is that last night we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in room 313. This evening we check into a Holiday Inn Express...guess which room they give us....yep... 313... A little eerie, huh? Sadly, as I sit here and type this I'm realizing that there is a heavy walker in the room above us and since we are next to the workout room people in there have decided to turn the television ALL THE WAY UP and yeah, we can hear it in this room as well....ah well, we are both tired enough that we'll fall asleep soon and just block it all out... I hope.

Tomorrow we will be making the final push on into Mom and Dad's in Cresson, TX.

Drive "Home" Day Three

This morning I awoke and headed back into Yosemite Park and headed over the Tioga Pass... It was beautiful. I've decided that I like the High Sierra Mountains better than the the valley floor and Lower Sierra. For some reason it struck me as more stark and prettier. I stopped to put my feet in Tenaya Lake. There was a couple there pulling food out of their car in preparation for a picnic. I, of course, had to make a comment to the extent of "Thanks, but y'all didn't have to make breakfast for me...." They got a chuckle; I got cold toes as the lake was really cold, but lovely!!

I then got through the mountains and headed into Nevada.

I went to and down the Extraterrestrial Highway, and my Tom Tom even knew to call it "99 miles down the Extraterrestrial Highway" is what Daniel the computer voice told me what to do. Sadly, I saw no Extraterrestrials... I did see a couple of coyotes and a lot of free range cattle. The whole time I was traveling the highway, I was completely out of cell phone range, so I missed my Dad's call(s) when he landed at the airport in Vegas.

A couple of hours later, I came out of cell phone lock down and started my decent into Vegas. I had programed Tom Tom to find the airport and called my dad to let him know that I was about 45 minutes away and I'd be picking him up soon. Well, that's what I thought. It turns out that I had programmed Tom Tom to go to the wrong airport. (Who knew that there were more than one in Vegas.) I should have realized that I was not heading to the correct place as there were no planes in the sky heading in the same direction that I was heading and the fact that I hadn't seen any signs....Well, I show up at the VTG and that is when it dawns that I'm in the wrong place...I reprogram Tom, call Dad to tell him I'm still on my way, and head out...Only to get caught in a less than nice neighborhood in a construction zone.... An hour later, I show up at the correct airport and Dad jumps in the car and we head off to the Holiday Inn Express (how many of y'all come to Vegas and stay at the HIE?).

We check in and then walk over to a casino which is just on the other side of the parking lot and grad some dinner....no there was no gambling, neither Dad nor I are big on that.

The thing that I noticed was the big difference in the sensory overload that I got at this small casino in comparison to the past couple of nights when I was in Yosemite and enjoying the sounds of silence and the stars within touching distance.

Tomorrow we get up and head out to Albuquerque.

Trek to Texas

I am a week away from heading back to Texas and am very excited about my trip. (Even though I did wake up at 4:30 this morning having a panic attack because I still have so much to do and will be gone the rest of this week camping.)

My movers arrive on September 21st and I have already reserved the street parking for the moving truck (just one more way for the city of San Francisco to take money from me). They will load up and head out with my worldly belongings and some time in the following 30 days I'll actually get to see my stuff again... even if it is to go straight into storage.

Once the movers leave, I will wrap up stuff around my place and then head down to spend the night at my friend's house. On the 22nd I head out for Yosemite. I am staying at the Tenaya Lodge for two days (it is a bit of a splurge, but I deserve it). On the 23rd I am taking a day long bus trip through Yosemite. This way I'll be able to see all of the great spots and not have to worry about driving myself.

On the 24th, I'm planning on getting up and heading out east over the mountains and into Nevada. I am then going to take the Extraterrestrial Highway down into Las Vegas/Henderson where I'll be spending the night. My initial plan was to crash there and then head out to Albuquerque and then on in to my folks place on the 26th. However, I spoke to my Dad this morning and he is going to fly out to Vegas and then drive back the rest of the way with me... which I'm very excited about.

On the 25th, Dad and I are going to get up and go across the Hoover Dam and with any luck we are going to do the tour. Then we'll head out across the desert and end up in Albuquerque, as per my initial plan.

On the 26th, we'll get up early, if I know Dad and it'll be a long drive, and take out across the rest of New Mexico and into Texas. We'll be getting in to their place, hopefully, by early evening so that Dad can sleep in his own bed and I can visit with Mom.

On the 27th, I will get up and around at some point and head out to McKinney and pull into my new home with the King and Queen and Puppies. The 28th, exactly one week after the movers take off with my belongings, I will sleep in, settle in, and drive to my friend Angie's to see my Godson and pick up my wine.

Sadly, it'll be back to work on the 29th....