Glorious Day Gearing up for Baltimore

Had some excitement today.

C very wonderfully made breakfast this morning. After I did dishes, I walked the dog in very glorious weather.

The birds were all quite happy; the songbirds were all singing away.  All the usual suspects were around: sparrows, american robins, juncos, american cardinals, black-capped chicadees, and a few turkey vultures.  I saw TONS of raptors in Indiana along the way, many of them I did not recognize.

Once I got back, I sought out our cats Tobias and Aviva.  Tobias was easy to find.  Aviva was in her favorite fuzz box.  We played with shoestring and she went back to her normal self as well.  I got to pet them both for a while.

I then proceeded to get my car paperwork organized one last time.  While doing so, Henry got loose.  Rather than chase him, C and R opted to send Hank out for him.  It took a few seconds for Hank to figure out what he was to do, but once he got it, he got onto Henry's scent and took off after him.  After about 10 minutes of waiting, Hank came racing back with Henry right behind him.  Ironically, once they got to the yard, they took a sharp right and headed down to a nearby neighbors yard where other dogs were.  One very short car ride there, C and R picked them up and got them back home.  It was so cool to see a dog actually do work, unlike in the city where dogs pretty much walk by their owners and do tricks.

Here's a video of them all in one room: from left to right: Hank (head only, largely hidden by the kennel), Carl (tucked on the couch, also hard to see), Henry, Etsy, and Buster.

I finished organizing my paperwork and then exercised a little where I saw very small purple flowers in the lawn.  I didn't recognize them.  I'll try to take a picture of them soon, if I can.  The walk this morning took care of my stiff back.  The exercise, while not immediately helping my hip, made my hip feel tons better several hours later...just like normal.  I returned to the house and chatted with R a bit.  He replaced the alternator in the Cavalier and that seemed to fix the problem.  We also talked about batteries and the curious dome light issue in the Cavalier.

Tobias was dancing around for a very brief moment in the living room.  It was hilarious to watch.  Obviously, he was in a good mood.  He also nestled in my lap when I was on the phone with my wife in the afternoon.

Later, I saw the two kitties by the sunny window, just like they usually are.

R made some steaks for a late lunch/early dinner.  They were really good!  I then took Etsy for another walk.  Although only around 70 degrees, she was acting warm.  I'll have to brush out her undercoat in the near future.

I then finished organizing things for the trip tomorrow, starting at midnight tonight.  Turns out that a storm is expected to start around the time I'm leaving and will follow me the whole way.  According to forecast, I should outrun it somewhere in Ohio, but we'll see.  If things get really bad, I always have the option of spending an extra night before processing the vehicle.  Figures.

On the Georgia Front, my wife is finishing enjoying the weekend by getting her gear packed.  She gets to turn in her training gear tomorrow morning and start her week long stretch of paperwork for out-processing. After that, I get to see her on Saturday!  Just a heads up, I will probably not have much exciting information from her this week.