My White Lilac Bush

Word of the Day

Syntheticity - An object's state of being synthetic. To possess syntheticity is to be a synthetic thing. As opposed to organicity.

My information packet for my Ireland/Scotland trip came today. Yes! I am so looking forward to this trip. My ancestors came from the area where we're going to be touring. We'll be walking on some of the same streets and hiking the same hills as those who made us. I can't wait. Sis and I will be heading to The Big City in a week, spend the night at a hotel near the hotel, and head to the airport on Saturday morning. Meanwhile, after rules and regulations from all the airlines and talking to #1 Son, who does a LOT of traveling, I did some re-packing. I needed to pare the weight of my check-in suitcase to 44 pounds. I got it down to 42 pounds. Instead of just bringing my purse and my laptop, I'm bringing a small carry-on bag (I'll tuck my purse into this bag) and my laptop. I'm allowed a carry-on and a personal item. The airline considers my laptop as a personal item. I packed some of the items that I had originally packed into my check-in suitcase, into my carry-on. My carry-on had to weigh 22 pounds or less. It weighs 17 pounds. So, no, I think, I'm packed. Apparently, UK airlines have stricter weight limits than here in the United States. And then, after reading my information packet today, I read that the weight requirements are the same for the UK airlines are for here. Oh well...I'm good. I may tuck some of the items that I put in my carry-on back into my check-in baggage but it makes me think that maybe there's some confusion when it comes to metric vs. the system we use here. This could get interesting.

The sun finally peaked out today. With its appearance, I was able to get some much needed outdoor work done. I put together the new Shop-Vac (heavy-duty)that I purchased for the express purpose of vacuuming our lower patio. It really needed it. I hadn't had the time or the opportunity to do it since I arrived back here at The Lake. I have vacuumed the upstairs deck but the lower patio was just too wet and too loaded with leaves and debris for the tiny little Shop-Vac that I normally use for the upstairs deck. I tried to use this small Shop-Vac last year...and failed. I had to drag out Ye Ole Broom and Dustpan. So...I decided to get what some would call a "real" Shop-Vac. I knew I'd need all its power for this task and it'll work out in the garage too. But first, I decided, since the upstairs deck needed vacuuming, again, I'd start there. It worked great! Then, I took the new Shop-Vac down to the lower patio and it did a great job there too! Wow! It sucked up everything! Shingle debris, LOTS of leaves, dirt, mud, grass clippings, rocks, and unwary bugs and worms. I was thrilled. A job that I'd been dreading was made fairly easy. Don't get me wrong, the job wasn't easy, but, it was LOTS easier than it has been in the past with a broom and dustpan and I didn't have to deal with constant clogging issues like I do with my tiny Shop-Vac. I may just retire my tiny Shop-Vac.

My goal is to leave this house looking pretty darn good and in good order before I take off for my trip. Thus, when I return, three weeks later with HTP, I'm hoping that everything will look nice for him...and me. He'll only get to stay here at The Lake for a couple of weeks. I want those two weeks to be more than happy and relaxing for him. I'm just hoping that our big boat will be ready for pick up from where it's being serviced before HTP gets here. However, I haven't heard anything to give me any confidence about this. I received a call earlier in the week to tell me that they can't match the carpet because that color has been discontinued so they had to get my go-ahead to use a different color carpet before they could proceed. I gave them the go-ahead and hope the color isn't too awful. However, chances are that I won't be picking up the boat before I leave on my trip. Hopefully, they'll get all the repairs done so at least all HTP and I have to do is go pick it up after we get back here.

Random Quote of the Day

Before he sets out, the traveler must possess fixed interests and facilities to be served by travel.

George Santayana (1863 - 1952)