Random pictures

Just some random pictures from the last couple of weeks...

A tribute to my trusty running shoes, which I retired about 3 weeks ago due to pain in my shins...turns out they were the wrong shoe for me, but they got me through 3 5Ks and a 10K. I am loving my new Mizuno Waveriders

The graduation invitations I made for my brother ( I figured my mom would kill me if I posted the party invite insert since it has their address on it :) )
Congrats Bobby!


Bacon and his stitched up belly
(he got the stitches removed today and is back on the kitchen table (where he is NOT supposed to be) licking plastic bags...my cat is weird)

Travel arrangements are going to make me age prematurely

Yeah so here's the saga:

I booked my tickets to India on Expedia. Their itinerary showed me arriving in Delhi at 8:15pm on Wed. April 23rd and departing Delhi to Bangalore on Th April 24th at 6:30am- so 10.5 hour layover. Perfect.

A day or so later,I looked at Continental to confirm my tickets were booked and it showed me arriving in Delhi at 8:15pm on Tuesday April 22nd, which I thought was a bit odd, because of the time change, but hey, I'm used to traveling to Moscow, not India, so I trust the airlines (hahaha), I must have looked at the Expedia stuff wrong and missed the "+2 days". So I reserve a hotel in Delhi for two nights and think, okay, well I just make a trip to the Taj Mahal on my extra day there (the 23rd).

So I am getting ready to confirm the hotel reservations and the paranoid flight controller side of me says "you know, you should probably check those arrival times one more time, since you already screwed it up once". Well I check Expedia and sure enough, it definitely says arrival on Wed April 23rd. So I call Expedia, just to point out the mistake so other travelers don't get walloped with a 36 hour layover. They thanked me for my advice. So then, I call Continental (I'm telling you- paranoid). Here's our conversation:

Continetal guy (CG): "you arrive in Delhi on April 23rd at 8:15pm".
Me: "I'm looking at my itinerary on your website and it says I arrive at 8:15pm on April 22nd".
CG: "If you leave Newark, NJ on April 22nd at 8:30pm you couldn't arrive in Delhi India at 8:15 pm on the same day".
Me: "Yes, I agree, so why does my itinerary say I arrive on April 22nd at 8:15pm instead of the 23rd"
CG: "Well, we have to put the 22nd down so people will know that they are departing Newark on the 22nd. If we put the 23rd down for your arrival in Delhi, people would think that they would depart Newark on the 23rd, instead of the 22nd"
Me: "Uh no, since it clearly states "Depart Newark on April 22nd at 8:30pm, I don't see how someone could think that. Maybe I am thinking too smart, but since I know there is a time change when I fly around the world, I expect to arrive on a different day, so its pretty confusing to me when you put the wrong day down for my arrival"
(I was thinking a whole lot of other stuff, but it wasn't very nice)
CG: "I'm sorry ma'am that's just how we do things"
Me: "So, can you confirm that I do arrival in Delhi on Wednesday April 23rd and not on the 22nd like my itinerary says"
CG: Yes ma'am I can confirm that you arrive on the 23rd"
Me: Thank you.

Let me just say that
1) its a good thing I didn't pay for my hotel and train tickets in Delhi yet
2) None of my Moscow itineraries- which are very similar to my India departure times, have ever said "Hey you leave Atlanta on August 8th at 4pm and arrive in Moscow on August 8th at noon...it would say "arrival on August 9th".
3) After all of that, I wouldn't be surprised if I do land in Delhi and its the 22nd

Am I missing something here?

Space Shuttle for Kids

My mom is a preschool teacher in Arizona and she does a HUGE space lesson for her kids...it lasts about a month. Here are some pictures of the space shuttle she designed and she and my dad built. It has all sorts of gadgets inside for the kids to "fly" with and she bought a orange flight suit and a blue suit as well for the kids to take pictures in, in front of the American flag of course! Helmet included :). Her whole class room is decorated in space themed, complete with glow-in-the-dark stars and a black light and a section for "Mission Control". The kids are little, old threes and young fours, but they get taught the basics of space and the universe, but more importantly, they get excited about space and what we as humans can do there. Great job Mom!

Yay!

Bacon is home! And of course, the first thing he did when I opened his carrier was go run and jump on my bed...after the vet told me not to let him jump on anything. . His forearm and stomach are all shaved, but no plastic cone around his head (that would have made from some funny pictures). And guess what!? The bill was significantly less than they originally quoted, so I am doubly happy!

No more flipflop!

The vet got the last chunk of flipflop out of Bacon's stomach today. She said it was a good thing they did the surgery, since it was headed towards his intestine and would have gotten stuck, making things a LOT more complicated. He's got to stay there for the next two days and then I pick him up Friday afternoon. I was supposed to run my 10K race up in Brenham on Saturday and then stay with my friends Angie and Andrew the rest of the weekend in College Station...but I just feel too bad leaving Bacon. So, to make it up to myself, I am going to run 6.2 miles at some point next week and then eat some Blue Bell ice cream. :) (The 10K is the Blue Bell Fun Run).

There will be other races and God willing, longer races...

The saga continues...

So the vet had me bring Bacon home tonight because the stubborn feline refuses to go to the bathroom there. So of course, it turns out I was the impetus he was waiting for...he proceeded to pee in his carrying cage as I was putting him into the car. Yeah, three day old cat urine smell in a Honda Civic...not exactly Eau de Parfum let me tell you. So then I get him home and semi-cleaned up and he drinks a bit of water and that's it...no more going to the bathroom and let me tell you, he is definitely walking funny. And he still hasn't eaten.

I have to take him back tomorrow morning for more scans, but they thought bringing him home might move things along... . Bacon, looks like you might be going under the knife.

Bacon status

Bacon is still in the "hospital", being pumped with barium (helps them to see his insides better when they do the scans) and food...seems that he still has quite a chunk(s?) of flipflop stuck in his stomach. Unless it "moves" (I don't think I need to explain to you what I mean by "move"), they are going to have to surgerize him on Tuesday...I did get some good news...him staying overnight in the hospital is only like $20 a day...I will not however, tell you how much the x-rays and barium thing is costing... :)...I think I should have gotten pet insurance...stupid cat...(yeah, I will be happy when he is back here)