Odds and Ends

Funny how it works that the world still goes on even when you are on vacation.

Since I have been gone, I have learned that Sly's best girl is in fact in foal for next year--so there will be another matching baby to the nicest Sly baby I may have ever seen. The dam is Red Dees Lassie, so the babies are siblings to the great Lassie Lender. Baby will be here mid April.

Also, I still evidently have a hole in my duct work at home, as my HVAC people are not getting the job done as they should. I am sure they will--it just would have been nice to have it done while I was gone.

Also, today is my sister and brother-in-laws 13th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary Austins! Have you ever counted the countries you have celebrated your anniversary in? I bet Qatar is the most exotic.

Because it is their anniversary--that means it would actually be Barry's and my anniversary as well, if we were still having them. Which clearly we are not. I am calling this my first NOT-iversary. And it is going to be a big day--Amy and I are getting ready to go jetskiing to Stingray City, and after that, we are going to the Flowers Sea Swim, which is a very cool event. You can read about it here http://flowersseaswim.com/ Lots of ex-Olympians do it--and if I see Ryan Lochte, who has done it before, all bets are off about adult behavior. That is one hot sumbitch.

We did a night dive the other nite--my first one--it was incredible. I will come up with pics to demonstrate what we saw since we had another camera malfunction. I will catch up on photo posts when I get home--there will be lots but we have to share an ethernet cable here and have been so dang busy that there just has not been time to do the posts in a timely manner. Amy has actually let me SLEEP some on this trip, which is unheard of for her.

So we are off for a big day of adventure for our last day on the island.....we are going to do it up since we have to be at the airport at 6 AM.......

To Hell and Back

As often as I thought I was in Hell, I was not in fact, in Hell, until yesterday.

There is a town called Hell on Grand Cayman, and Amy and I went there to see it.

It is named hell due to these weird rock formations...this is what the real hell would look like. I personally think there would be more fire, but it was hot as hell for sure

The only thing more alarming than the devil being this short and making Amy look like an Amazon is that when we went in the store...there he was FOR REAL. A little bitty sawed off man in a devil suit. I did not know the devil was Asian, but evidently he is.

First day on Grand Cayman

I did not get into the condo until almost 6 tonight and just a little time before sunset to spend on the beach while waiting for Amy to arrive. At some points, it was overcast, but I got a couple of shots and walked a couple of miles.

This is the beach right outside of our condo.

As the sun was going down, there were still a few people out on the water.

I had to get back to wait for Amy so I got one last photo from right outside our room.

After she got here, we had a great dinner and went to Coconut Joe's for a few drinks with the rest of the world, who was watching the NBA game. People are funny no matter they are--there was a rowdy group from Dallas and a bunch of Brits--you could pick them out even without listening to them, because they were no kind of interested in the game. Amy left at 6 am her time today and I stayed up way too late at Lorna's last nite, so we are in relatively early tonight, like good girls. I suspect it is the last time we will be properly behaved all week, especially since we discovered that the Caybrew Light is a tasty and good beer. Also, we have a blender in our condo, and a big ol bottle of rum, so there you go.

Tomorrow I should have way more photos to choose from. We are going to rent a car in the morning, and go to the Sunset House to dive....then relax to get ready for the evening. We are going to try to not go balls to the wall all week like we usually do, and spend more time doing normal vacation things like laying on the beach and in the pool. We will see how successful we are with that!

An apology and a catch up

I am so behind, it is absurd. I would give you an excuse, but really I do not have one other than the obvious. It is hard being in charge of all the things I have to get done around here. However, today, things finally came together.

The bathroom is almost completely finished! I finally broke down and hired a painter and he painted it today. There is one missing piece of a cabinet door, but otherwise, she is done. And it really is beautiful.

Also, the tree on the fence at the farm was chainsawed up and the fence mostly repaired. The farrier was here and knocked out a pile of trims. The pool is damn near clean--which has honestly taken all week, and will probably be a mess by the time I get back anyway.

Yards are mostly mowed--well, kind of. Only part of the farm is done.

I was fairly productive at work this week too.

The other house things that have happened are many--new ceiling fan, several light fixtures are installed, etc....a leak in the roof was discovered and repaired. A hole in the ductwork was discovered and steps taken to repair it--but that is a big project, so won't be done for a bit. No wonder my power and heating bills are obscene.

When I get back from vacation, I am going to bite the bullet and have Rock put to sleep. I know it is almost time, and I want to beat her to the necessary stage. But it freaking sucks, and I cannot talk about it yet.

In other news, Linda's mother passed away. Even when you know it is coming, and know it is best for her, it still sucks. Its hard to watch Linda deal with it, because we all know it will be our turn someday. RIP Mrs Hanks.

I am headed out tomorrow to go on vacation--I will do what I can to catch up while on the way, and while I am there. Obviously, this will be a different trip than it normally is, but I am going to give it all I have to make it great.

Full weekend

I worked my butt off this weekend. That includes more than two hours at WalMart on a Saturday. No person should ever do that. But I was trapped because they had my car in the oil change place. Even worse my cell phone battery died while I was there. It was like the ninth circle of hell.

I ran a bunch of other errands too, like picked up pool chemicals, got my nails done, did some laundry etc. Had a nice catch up with Tracy finally--I have not seen her in forever, so that was good. Went out with Holly for a bit. Just a regular night.

Today has been completely packed. I worked on the pool, mowed the yard, washed the dogs, and managed to get some round bales. They were so heavy though that no one else could lift them, other than my tractor, so it had to go there to do it. It was a bit of a circus. But nice hay and it is home. And of course, now I have a migraine from allergies.

It does feel good to get a jump on the week though, and not be starting out behind. Not that I have that totally under control of course---I still cannot see through all the stuff on the island. I have to force myself to bed early tonight too, as I have an intern starting in the morning and plans tomorrow nite--so I cannot lay around here all morning

Have a good week!

Pulled the trigger- next big trip BOOKED

I bought my plane tickets to visit Mandy in November, in Qatar. I am so excited, I cannot stand it. I got a really good deal, managed to get only one layover each way (in Manchester going, and London coming home) instead of the three that is standard from the Midwest, and it is BOOKED!

Qatar is a small country in the Persian Gulf, attached to Saudi Arabia. Bahrain is just above it and the United Arab Emirates is across the bay. There is great shopping, sailing, camel racing, an incredible equestrian center, sand dune safari things, and amazing beaches.

This is the Grand Mosque in Doha, where Mandy lives.

When they get done showing me Qatar, we are going to Dubai!

This is in Dubai--it is the worlds largest tower, the Burj Dubai--more than twice the height as the Empire STate Building
These are the Dubai Towers. Isn't the architecture of this place incredible? Google Dubai photos and you will be amazed at how unique the architecture is here. The hotels and residences are absolutely mind-boggling.

Edward has been to Dubai a million times for work, but clearly I have done no such thing. He mostly worked so much there that he did not get to do a whole lot. Fortunately, I have a connection there that can show us around and make sure we do not miss anything.

I cannot wait!

Camping Weekend

Storm damage

Look at the old woman on this mule
Sand Cave