Rick checks the TSA web site each day, but neither of us has gained pre-TSA approval yet. He seems to think that since he is a loyal, tax-paying, law-abiding citizen, that he should just automatically be given the pre-TSA approval. I am sure that will happen, but as he gets older, my husband gets more impatient. As far as I am concerned, I wonder if my trouble with the fingerprint machine will ever allow me the approval. My only crime is having small hands that did not fit on the machine well and damaged fingerprints from 49 years of multiple blood tests each day. Time will tell...
I wish that the approval would come through, though, since we have moved our travel plans up by a month. We originally were going to travel north on May 19, but we are going back early to help Stephanie with her move. She sold her house, so she now is trying to find temporary housing to move into while the contractor finishes her new house. Moving is a royal pain to begin with, and having to do all of the packing and hauling alone makes the task that much greater. We are happy to be able to help her with some of the packing, and as she sorts through her belongings, I will take some of them back to Wisconsin to sell in a rummage sale. I have a basement full of items I want to get rid of, so adding hers to the pile will not be a big deal. One step at a time, though. She first needs to find a new place to live, and she needs help with the packing. What and how she packs will depend on where she will live until August.
Yesterday we met with a local tree removal firm to get an estimate on removing our palm tree and bottle brush tree from the front yard. The Queen Palm is old, leaning toward the house, and not terribly healthy. I would love to plant new palms, but they probably will be along the south fence once we have the shed built. That could be a year or two down the road. The bottle brush tree is dying. The city arborist told us to "take it down and put it out of its misery." I like a bottle brush tree, but that, too might be a future addition to the back yard. Our plans are to plant two foxtail palms, some ti plants, and some other bushes in a grouping in the front yard. Then, after we install a paver sidewalk, we can add some other low-growing bushes to replace the palm in front of the kitchen windows. As the old saying goes, "It only takes money." Oh, yeah. That's what we are lacking!
The last couple of days have been fairly laid back. We actually tried to go to the beach yesterday afternoon, but even the small, local beach at Fred Howard park was overrun with Spring Break people. We finally gave up, came home, and just relaxed in our backyard. Now that we have the fence up, we have complete privacy even though the neighbors were working outside.
The neighbors are finally fixing up their house in preparation for a wedding reception they will hold in a couple more weeks. The fascia boards on their house have been peeling for over a year, but they have both been too busy working to do much about them. Now the wedding has given them motivation, and they not only are sanding and painting the fascia, they also are painting the house, weeding the flower gardens, and adding new mulch all of the way around. Their repairs actually make our house look better.
In keeping a neighborly viewpoint, I used part of today to trim our one remaining bush that is located near the neighbor's property. I could not trim the bush too much since it is just starting to bloom, but I was able to trim off the really obvious high points and to pull most of the weeds that try to grow through from underneath the bush. It still is a little full for my tastes, but it is better than what was there before.
Since we had to change airline plans, Rick has been busy changing tickets, working with the post office to forward mail, and coordinating the six other things we must do to shut down the house in a few weeks.
This morning I changed one doctor's appointment from late May to next week. I always try to get blood work draw the week before my appointment, so that meant at the last minute I had to go in for a blood test today. I'll get a copy of the results so I can take them back to Wisconsin with me for my summer appointments there.
After that, we had an early lunch and then were off to get very badly-needed haircuts. Now, at least, we will not frighten little children when we fly home on the plane!
The other triumph of today was taking a bike ride. We went three times around the lake. Rick measured the distance to see how far we could go if we rode down to the Trail. Right now, I could ride from our house to the Trail and back again. I need to keep riding each day to see if I can build up my muscles so I could actually ride ON the Trail once I got there!
The weather has been beautiful the last couple of days. We try to walk at least once a day; that way we don't feel so guilty when we spend time in the hammock reading our books in the afternoon. I am beginning to learn what relaxation is all about. I rather like being retired!
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