What Lies Beneath The Couch??

For the past few returns to my house lately, I would walk in to a different "aroma" in my den. Nothing horribly terrible, but also not something extremely pleasing.  It was something akin to the smell of spoiled food (think leftovers way too leftover or days-old milk left in a cup somewhere).  I had not been able to identify any smell culprits, but remained convinced there was something afoot.

So today I had to do the inevitable - look in earnest for the source.  And that meant moving the couch sectional apart and away from the wall.  Of course, even that probably would have been avoided, except that last night, when Sam became aware of my iPhone plight, his comment was, "Are you sure it's not in the couch?"  Of course I was sure, just like I was sure that I had not left it in the refrigerator when I got Lindley some milk.  However, just like I checked the refrigerator anyway, I needed to check the couch. And so I did.

About an hour later, and many Swiffer wipes, and several vacuum cleaner container dumps, and a lot of sweeping and picking up of crayons, crackers, giblets of various types, and lots of other grossness too gross to mention, the couch was back in place.  No offending odor-creator was found, but neither was my iPhone. Thank goodness.

Since I am leaving tomorrow, I will not know if cleaning/mopping under the couch has remedied the aroma dilemma in the den. But at least I know what parts of the den are clean.  Now, if somebody will just claim the earbuds I found - or maybe they might not want to ...

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Today is a gift because: picking up Steve at work; thinking about packing but doing other stuff instead; cleaning under the den couch

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Or you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  Or as Anne of Green Gables said, "I never make the same mistake twice." To which Marilla replied: "I don't know as that's much benefit when you're always making new ones." In other words, take your pick of quotes - it's happened again.  To me.

"What happened?" you might be wondering.  Four words - iPhone - top of car.  That equation turns equals new iPhone (again) for LaLa. But I digress.  Let me explain.

Today I picked up Lindley and Everley from school and brought them home.  Maribeth had volunteered to pick up JAlex for dinner if I did the school run.  Anyhow, we played and watched Disney Jr and ate dinner.  Everley and Maribeth went home.  Sam, Lynnette, and Lindey prepared to go home.  I went out to accompany Lindley, apparently with my phone in hand.  Lindley asked for some milk for the ride home, and of course I returned to the house to comply with her request.  I gave her the cup-o-milk and she and Lynnette left in her car and I returned to the house.

About five minutes later, I realized that I did not have my phone.  Of course I checked all the usual places (which would be all over the house), to no avail.  I had the feeling that my phone had been left on top of Lynnette's car. Since we have no landline and Steve was out of town, my only method of communication was email.  Which Sam or Lynnette may not read immediately.  I emailed them both, asking them to call my phone, just in case I had put it INSIDE Lynnette's car.  I then emailed Maribeth, asking her to call them.  Maribeth answered the email and called them.  Meanwhile, I got in my car and started driving the route that Lynnette probably would have taken to her house - by the way, it was pitch-black dark by then.

Long story short, there was no phone to be found.  Anywhere.  No phone lying around or shattered about.  Maribeth tried calling my phone, but it went straight to voicemail.  She tried the "Find My iPhone" thingy, but there was no response.  So I determined it was dead, possibly on I65, shattered by some semi. (Later Molly would determine that it probably fell off on our street, and some unsavory person who apparently roams the streets looking for random iPhones found it, turned it off, and has since sold it for millions of dollars).

By this time, it was around 8pm.  Maribeth said she would go with me to Target, where we would purchase a new iPhone.  However, when we got there, the person in charge of telephones in the electronics department had left for the day.  Meanwhile I had already made the next appointment at the Genius Bar at the Apple Store - which would be at noon tomorrow.  We determined that we would go to the Apple Store, regardless of the fact that (a) we had no appointment at the Genius Bar, and (b) it would be closing in thirty minutes.

We arrived at the store and noticed the line of people outside the store (apparently waiting for their iPhones).  We ignored the line and went inside, where Dude #1 checked us into his iPad.  Soon Dude #2 came to us, I explained the circumstances, he explained my options, and thirty minutes later I walked out with a brand new iPhone 6 (the smaller one).  And a new two-year contract.  And considerably less spending money than I had thirty minutes earlier.

I am not sure this will ever happen again.  This time I did purchase Apple Care, which may or may not have been a wise choice.  I just hope I purchased the right iPhone - like one that does not like to travel on top of cars!!


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Today is a gift because:  Taking Molly to the airport; picking up the girls at school; Maribeth picking up JAlex dinner; iPhone experience with Maribeth's help

Monday, Monday

So it looks like it's going to be a typical Davidson travel week.  Some going out, some coming back, some packing/unpacking/repacking suitcases, and a few airport runs.  Oh, and some are just staying put.

For instance, Steve is flying to Ft. Lauderdale today until Wednesday. Meanwhile, Molly (who returned from Orlando last night) will be flying to Las Vegas tomorrow.  Sam is going somewhere (but he's always going somewhere). Steve will return on Wednesday but then head to Columbus, MS, on Friday for a GDiz visit and the BIG GAME between MSU and Texas A&M on Saturday.  But before that, I will fly to Orlando on Thursday, meeting Molly who will be flying in from Las Vegas. Sam will be flying in and out, going places (we check the family Google calendar and/or Facebook to see his exact whereabouts).  That at least gets us through Saturday - I think.

The rest of the family will stay home and take care of things (get the mail and the paper, water the plants, scoop the poop, and otherwise keep the house standing).  It's not that they don't never get to go anywhere - it's just their travel time hasn't arrived yet.  It will come, and I will be the one at home taking care of stuff. And that will be a pretty good thing!

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Today is a gift because:  Airport run for Steve; getting a few things accomplished at home; taking Everley to school

Last Sunday In September

Yup, September is rolling right on past.  Since I've spent much of the month out of town (no comments, please), the passing of September days seems even more rapid.  It seems as the days of summer are quickly turning into the days of fall and even (eeks!) slipping into the holidays.  So I guess I'd better get caught up (and we all know what that means!).

So today, the last Sunday of September, I am choosing to be thankful.  Thankful for the opportunities to travel and a home to return to.  Thankful for granddaughters who can make me feel old and young at the same time.  Thankful for cats who will rip up the corners of my furniture and cuddle up at night and purr in my ear.  Thankful for friends to have fun with and who hang with me through the tough times.  Thankful for feet that may be slow but still carry this body over the miles I chose to wog. Thankful for my family who knows the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything else, and yet continues to look forward to the next thing.  Thankful for this life which may not be everything that I had planned, but much more than I deserve and certainly more than I could ever hope.

So today, as September continues to roll on past, I am choosing to be thankful.  Because in the end, that's the true value of each day - recognizing that with which we have been blessed. Every day is truly a gift - and I hope you've found yours today!

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Today is a gift because:  Lindley and Everley time; dinner with the family

Fun In The Airport

After the not-so-fun embarkation part of our cruise, we were a bit wary as to how the debarkation would go.  Apparently the people leaving the ship last Saturday spent hours getting through customs and to the airport.  We decided to do our best to avoid all that.  We should have remembered one of the Davidson Rules of Travel - if you think you need extra time, you will get to your destination many hours before you need to; however, if you think you have plenty of time, you'd better be checking the flight schedule for a flight the day following your scheduled flight ... because you're probably going to miss it.

So, we decided we would keep our luggage and walk off with it rather than have to wait for it in the luggage room.  All walk-off passengers were told to go to one of the lounges at 7am.  We did and waited a bit and then walked off - and to a waiting cab.  The whole process took about 10 minutes. So we ended up at the airport about five hours before we were scheduled to leave.

Just to give you an idea, we got to our gate and the only people down there were the cleaning crew and a few of the kiosk employees.  There weren't even any other passengers down there yet.  If only they had lounge chairs there, we could have taken a nice long nap.  Instead we had a few snacks and I bought a book to read on the way home (since we would be flying over the ocean for around 90 minutes and I needed the distraction).  Eventually (and I mean hours later) more passengers showed up, and eventually we boarded our plane for Tampa.

We had a short layover in Tampa and soon we were headed home.  Time to unpack the suitcase and sleep in my own bed for a new nights before ...  You know the drill - stay tuned!

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Today is a gift because: safe, smooth flight over the ocean; great book ("Natchez Burning" by Greg Isles) to keep me busy during the flights; short wait in Tampa; sleeping in my own bed