It’s been pouring ever since I got up shortly before 8 PM. Part of me wishes it could always be like this because the wind and rain keep everybody quiet around here. Better yet, I wish it would be too hot for people to be out doing things.

Period was short. It stopped yesterday. But I still have feminine itching and to think that I’ll have to deal with the burning and itching on and off right along with my ear aching on and off, makes me want to scream.

Saying goodbye really is never easy. But that’s exactly what we had to do Sunday night on February 7th. Before our goodbyes, we left the hotel and headed for Tammy’s for an evening of wonderful food and conversation. I’m just not sure how much of it I want to share in public. Certain health issues and other personal issues pertaining to those I’m close to require some degree of privacy. Everybody’s different and so I use my best judgment when it comes to everyone I know.

Mark threw some steaks on the grill and dinner was absolutely delicious. We had baked potatoes and a wonderful side of sautéed mushrooms and onions, plus rolls. We had chocolate pie for dessert, but I barely had room for it by the time we got to that part.

I am amazed at the personal growth of my sister. We all have traits we’ll always have, like me and my mischievous, goofy side, but most of us do – or at least should – mature over the years. My sister may be the same in that she won’t take any shit from anyone, but she’s also really mellowed out and has become a much more positive and supportive person. The old Tammy would have been jealous of anything I might succeed in. This Tammy would be happy for me.

I felt like I’d known Mark forever. He’s a great guy! I’m touched by how happy he was to finally meet me. It was definitely an emotional hello and goodbye for us as well.

He had some fascinating and funny stories to tell. One was about a guy at the retreat he was at for those who have been sober (from alcohol) for decades. The guy was a real shit in his younger, drunken days and did a lot of nasty stuff to his neighbor. He later apologized and made it up to them in ways that were quite touching.

Then he told us a hilarious story about this squirrel that just wouldn’t leave their bird feeder alone no matter what he did.

Didn’t know Tammy was his third wife, though. I knew years ago that he lost his wife Mary to cancer, but when he was explaining to me why he considered August to be a romantic month for him, that’s when that came out. All his marriages were in August and so is Tammy’s birthday.

I was surprised to learn that Nana never wanted the house that was next to the one where I lived for my first 13 years or so. Then what did she want? I’m just surprised because the Hünden was a very headstrong woman with a mind of her own. She wore the pants in her family, and just like my mother had my dad wrapped around her finger, so did Nana when it came to Pa. Pa jumped at her every wish and command. So I wonder why she didn’t want to move there, and where she actually preferred to be, and why she didn’t put her foot down about it. Can’t help but be curious despite the fact that I couldn’t stand her and she’s been dead for 30 years. I guess they got a really good deal on the place or something.

Then it came time for a tearful goodbye laced with lots of hope of them coming to visit us in a couple of years. We’re definitely not going to let another 24 years slip by, that’s for sure!

When I got back Tammy said on Facebook, “Who will help me with my shoes?”

LOL

Later…

OMG, this is so fucking funny! Tom and I once talked about me writing my dreams in story format and turning them into little stories just for fun, to be creative, and get even more writing experience.

I took that little diary from India and started doing just that and writing my dreams as if they actually happened. Then I will tie it up with its ribbon once it’s complete and leave it in one of the bedroom’s built-in drawers for the next owners to get a real WTF moment out of, haha.

The only one I’m going to let in on this is Tammy (Aly’s sense of humor is too dry), but I decided to take it a step further. Hey, if you can’t come up with creative stories, why not creative bullshit, huh? LOL Or at least “creative dreams.” I do have a sensible story idea in the works, but anyway, I created a second Prosebox account a while back so I could see what logged-in members see in my account. No one ever knew I had that account, and I haven’t used it in a while.

But then I got the hilarious idea of writing the dreams as stories and posting them there so I could get a good laugh at all the people I’ve come to know trying to make sense of something I know they’ll never make sense of. Wish I could install my tracker there, but I’m the only one I know of who uses TIP, and am sure they’ll find that an odd coincidence. It’s just that that site has the best tracking. Blogger’s a joke, LiveJournal is dead, and I can’t track at all on my-diary.

I’ll make sure not to post at sporadic hours like I do. I’ll also make sure to make some errors I wouldn’t normally make as much. The profile info differs from mine and there’s much less of it, too. What I came up with for an initial entry goes like this, but this copy is with correct grammar and spelling:

Recognized a trio of folks walking into the multi-story clubhouse behind me when I was sitting outside, and wow. How amazing it is all the people I’ve come to know here! Two guys and a girl. Pretty sure they’re in their 20’s.

I went to clean the bathrooms I was hired to clean and they were weird. I was inside a tiny one and that one, as well as all the other ones, had these sculptures of a human hand. They were life-size, though slender. I still can’t figure out what the fuck they’re for. They’re affixed to the sink counters and will swivel left and right, but not up and down. WTF?

What really scared me was my driving lately. I’ve lost track of how many times it happened but I parked the car by the side of the road, got out and lay down. I’m not sure if I slept or not, passed out or what the deal is, but I got back up even though I felt like I weighed 1000 pounds and hurried back inside the car. I said to myself, “You’ve got to stop sleeping at stop signs!” I was afraid someone would call the police or paramedics. I did manage to get home safely from there so it’s not all bad.

Later…

Got up around 9am on the morning of the 8th. We’d packed most of our stuff the night before and were pretty much ready to go after our showers.

I grabbed a chocolate muffin and coffee from downstairs, and off we went to the airport in Fort Lauderdale.

Returning the Jeep was simple. We just pulled up in front of a line of used rentals and were even told we could leave our trash behind and they’d take care of it.

With time to kill, we ate at Chili’s, a restaurant I’d never been interested in until my sister and nieces got me turned on to quesadillas. I ordered some steak ones. Tom got a burger and fries.

We then left, after Tom worried me for a minute by leaving his boarding pass on the table at the crowded eatery. Fortunately, he realized this right away and no one had been by yet to pick things up.

On the way to Florida, we were in row 5 of first class for both flights, but for the flight to Houston, we were in row 2. We changed planes right away and then we were in row 4 for the remainder of the trip. It felt like that plane would never land! I could only go through my mail, write and read so much.

My favorite flight attendant was definitely this black guy with a great sense of humor. Both of us hated the food, though. It was too spicy. He got pasta and I got shrimp and rice.

Finally back in Sacramento, we found the airport rather dead, which was nice. We just wanted to get the hell out and get home.

I was astounded to learn dogs can fly on planes WITH passengers! I thought they’d have to be in a carrier underneath the plane like the cat I flew to Phoenix was back in the 90s. What if they have to pee or poop?

So we finally got a shuttle driver, deciding to pay a little extra to be the only passengers, rather than go with a group. The guy was eager to tell us all about his fellow employee being pissed off (I guess he was supposed to drive us) and complain about all the foreign drivers and how shitty they drive.

That familiar nervous excitement came over me as we approached the house. There’s always that slight fear that something might be wrong, though the park would have contacted us, yet it felt so good to be back, as much as I hope to escape this state someday.

So Tom turned the water on as I unlocked the door. The only thing “wrong” was that the rats stunk. The reason we couldn’t play back Bob pulling our trash bin in on the cameras we set up or see the rats while we were gone was because fucking Windows did an update as soon as we left. I can operate Alexa from my computer no matter where it is, so I played the rats some music and nature sounds at times. I was just sure to keep the volume down so that those who knew we shouldn’t be home yet wouldn’t think something was wrong. Rats have great hearing anyway.

The next day, Tom had no trouble starting up the caddy.

So 10 days later I am finally caught up on the trip! There is one thing, though, that Tammy and I talked about that was weird as hell. I’ll get to that probably tomorrow.