Don says it’s time for an update, so I’ll comply. Nathan is asleep in the other room. I brought him home to spend the night and we watched Lady and the Tramp. It’s been a long time since I watched that one all the way through. Boy, if I didn’t have grandkids, I would forget all the great Disney Classics!
I’ve been continuing to work overtime as our chip gets closer to tape out. I brought my laptop home last night and did a little work from home and worked about four hours from my kitchen counter this morning. This project should be done in three more weeks. I leave on sabbatical that Friday. Perfect timing!
I’ve got my sabbatical travel plans just about solidified. My first official day off is September 12 (Dale’s birthday). On Wednesday, the 14th, I fly to Anchorage and will be there for a week. Steven’s first birthday is Friday, the 16th, so I worked out the timing perfectly to be able to celebrate with him. I haven’t missed one of the grandkids’ first birthdays yet!
After returning home on the 23rd, I have a few days to prepare for my 4 week road trip. Glenda and I are leaving on the 28th, and driving northeast. We have stops planned in Evansville (to visit Wendy & Dennis) and Niagara Falls, and on up into New England for about a week. Then we will head south through NYC, Philadelphia and Washington DC. We’ll spend 3-4 days there seeing the sights. As we drive further south to Orlando, we’ll stop in colonial Williamsburg, Atlanta, and possibly try to see the Kennedy Space Center. After 3-4 days at Walt Disney World, we skedaddle home, because I’m sure we’ll both be longing for our own beds by then! We’ll also, no doubt, be out of money…especially if the price of gas keeps climbing like it is. That should be about October 24th or 25th.
My main disappointment has been Alice’s recent decision not to join Glenda and me on the trip. She’s feeling snug in her little home in Portland, and reluctant to strike out across the country with us. I told her we had already dreamed of new memories we would be making with her, and so will miss her terribly. Until we arrive in Buffalo, I’m still going to hope that she will change her mind. (That’s where she is supposed to fly in to meet up with us.)
I found a house and dog sitter who I am thrilled about. She’s a friend from church. She said she is looking forward to my cable TV. I think she will be a Tivo fan by the time I come home, don’t you?
I’m off work until November 6, unless I take an extra week or two of vacation, which I might.
So the countdown is really on now. I have 15 working days left and I’m outta there. See ya later, alligator!