How I Spent My Summer

     When I finally knew I was coming home for a bit between jobs, my sons immediately informed me that they did NOT have a couch.  If I wanted to stay with them, and this was VERY STRONGLY DISCOURAGED, I would have to buy a mattress of some sort and follow their rules.  The thought of staying for an indefinite period of time on an air mattress was not making my old body happy.  When I posted this distressful news, I was immediately offered a room, and a bed, with my friend Becky.  Her and her mother live in a big old house (my favorite kind) in Evanston, and they would welcome the company.  I very quickly said YES!
     Before I left Riyadh, I made sure to book a hotel near the airport in Riyadh so I would not have to worry about making it to the airport on time.  I was of the understanding that the "airport shuttle" was included, but regardless, I would pay anything to leave.  I had paid the equivalent of my "bonus" to upgrade to business class, as I had "just" returned from the US a short time ago and was not up to sitting for another 14 hours.  Also, because I knew I was almost immediately turning around to do it in reverse, the money would be my small "vacation" treat to myself.  WELL WORTH EVERY PENNY TO LAY DOWN FLAT!  Also, because I had paid for business, I was able to spend my 3 hour layover in Istanbul in the business lounge!  I figured it would be a while before I got a bite to eat, so I grabbed a snack and a chardonnay :-)

     I had also booked a hotel for the night I arrived, so as not to have to deal with anyone until my body had adjusted to life back in the good 'ol US of A!  BTW, WTF has this asshat who calls himself the supreme leader been up to while I was gone?  Seriously, what is wrong with that man?  I find myself traveling the world and apologizing for him.  I have to swear I did not vote for him (I voted absentee in Saudi) and promise to work hard to never let this happen again.  I leave the country for one minute and the Cubs win the pennant and Lord Feltersnatch tries to start WWIII.  Don't even get me started on the race riots he has instigated and supported....sorry, hard to watch.  I don't bother trying to watch anything but world news anymore.  I figure the big shit will get reported on the BBC (Las Vegas?!?!)
    So, I stayed with Becky and her mom.  They were the world's best hostesses.  Mom and I had some great conversations and Becky....OMG that woman can cook!  One of the best parts of staying with them, is that the house came complete with CATS!

 This is Mr. Winston. He is a most regal old man.  He is 17 years old and quite the dignified cat.

 This is Niko.  He is a young hellion, and he loves to annoy Mr. Win.  He has the SOFTEST fur of ANY animal I have EVER petted!  He used me for a pillow quite regularly and I did NOT object!  I did not take a picture of Dali dog, as her and I butted heads the whole time I was there...LOL  She has her humans quite well trained and I just wasn't playing that game.

They had installed a bird feeder in the front window, so I could sit by the window with a lap full of fur and watch the birds....squirrel!

     I was able to spend some quality time with my boys as well!  Ian and Mike both picked me up from the airport and we had dinner at Longhorn.  I barely ate and barely finished my cocktail before I knew that all I wanted to do was crawl into a soft bed and sleep til I could sleep no more.

     Mike was quite proud that he was able to buy me dinner one night (a fish meal with the pizza he ordered), and make me dinner one night (He called it "spaghetti", I called it pasta casserole.  Then he made me dessert....hot baked chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice-cream!  He took me to the BEST Mexican place I have eaten at in ages and had them cook me up some fresh, hot churros.  OMG they were good!  This was what we saw in the gift shop window next door.  Did I mention the neighborhood is predominately Hispanic?

I also did not question the beer on the shelf in the shower...

I did finally get a picture of the third afghan I crocheted for Ian.  The picture does not do it justice, as it is beautiful shades of blue and green!

     As is turned out, it was actually quite fortuitous that Becky had invited me to stay.  She had made plans to attend a concert in Minneapolis and it was comforting to her to know that someone else was in the house in case mom needed anything.  I was happy for the opportunity to cook mom dinner.  Becky is an AMAZING cook and preferred to cook while I happily (except for the day I got my manicure :-) did the dishes.  They have a dishwasher so it was not that hard.  In addition to the concert, both Becky and her mother had tickets to attend the Shakespeare festival in Winston, Canada.  I was happy to spend a great deal of quality time with Win and Niko.  

      Dali dog was NOT happy at their departure and let me know in no uncertain terms that she was unhappy.  Apparently when they have gone before, she has a habit of taking a crap on the white bathroom rug in the large upstairs bathroom.  She also has a horrible habit of eating the cat food if it is left unattended.  When she does this, she gets horrible diarrhea.  So......

This was the second round.  The first round had been cleaned up before I went to bed.  (very heavy sigh).  They have a woman who walks the dog, and I was happy she arrived that morning.  I was worried that there was something wrong with the dog and was freaking out because they had not made a point to give me a number for the vet.  Fortunately, the dog walker was very well versed on all things dog and informed me the problem was the cat food, she would keep an eye on the dog, and I simply needed to add some white rice and plain chicken to the dry food.  She also told me that it was perfectly fine to have Dali sleep outside on the covered porch at night.  The porch I could hose off if need be. :-)

     I was also able to spend some real quality with my friend Holly in her fabu penthouse rental.

     She took me out for "life changing fried chicken", and I have to admit it was pretty damned good! The mac and cheese was amazing, and the peach cobbler for dessert? The long things are fried green beans that were, in fact, life altering...I stuffed myself silly! YOLO

Speaking of food, you KNOW I hit up Portillo's before I left...ok, hit them hard a few times!

 I was also able to fulfill my promise to my dad and check on mom's grave.  I had picked up some flowers at Meier's and planted those.

I had mailed in my passport to the visa processing center in D.C. immediately upon returning home and had it back with the visa in a week.  I immediately contacted the recruiter to inform them that visa was in hand, and I was told the ticket would come.....so I waited.... Two weeks later I received an email from the principal telling me she was excited about my coming.  I told her I had the visa was and waiting on the ticket.  After another week, she contacted me again asking, "Where the heck are you?"  School had started....told her ask the office...  She told me she would take care of it and sure enough, the next day, I had a ticket.  So Monday morning, about 10am, I was informed that I was leaving on a 10 am flight on Wednesday.  Cool.  48 hours to get my shit together to fly out of the country.

     So, I tried to call the airline to upgrade and was told to just check in and deal with it then....great, but in coach I get 20kg in each of 2 bags, and in business class, I get 32kg in each of 2 bags...so, books? underwear? clothes? toothpaste? (I actually seem to have lost that)  I packed the bags at 32kg and figured I would just eat the over baggage fees if I couldn't upgrade.  I set aside $3000 on a credit card to pay for baggage and upgrade.  Fingers crossed, I headed to the airport (Becky gave me a ride) and my next grand adventure!