...But That Time Has Come to an End

June 2010 - December 2024

She’s gone. 

Wednesday was really the turning point of going from A Cat with Cancer that Will Kill Her to being A Dying Cat. Hubby was home on Tuesday and Wednesday, so he spent both days in the living room with her. She was energetic enough to sit on the arm of the loveseat so that he could pet her.  

We took her to bed on Wednesday night, and after a few hours, she jumped down from the headboard and trotted over to the treadmill, and she looked like she was looking for a spot. Cat owners know what this means… Cats are very private creatures and look for places to die where they won’t be an inconvenience. So, we thought she was doing that. Hubby followed her around, but then she jumped up onto the shelf in front of the treadmill, where I had a stack of folded laundry. She proceeded to pee all over them. Honestly, I wasn’t even mad – we hadn’t seen her pee in forever! Once she was done, we just cleaned up after her and got her back to the bed. She didn’t have any issues after that, and both of us took turns throughout the night reaching out to pet her and check on her. 

Thursday was a terrible day, because Hubby and I both had to go to work, and Clover would be stuck home alone. Thankfully, we have an indoor security camera, so every so often, one of us would pull up the app and check on her (we did this previously throughout the past week, too). Her breathing was becoming so shallow that there were times when we couldn’t see her move at all. She was still with us when we got home, and as we ate dinner. We moved her to bed with us and watched TV for a few hours. 

I’d been asleep for maybe an hour when she fell off the headboard, right onto my head and shoulder. She scrambled down to the end of the bed and stayed there for a few minutes, gasping. Hubs and I woke up fully and calmed her down. Her blanket was wet (she must have peed again), as was my pillow and the foot of the bed. He swapped out to a fresh blanket while I took care of the pillow, and then got her set up again on the headboard. Within a few minutes, she fell again, right between our pillows. And she didn’t move. I put my hand on her chest and it wasn’t moving. 

She'd finally given in. 

Hubby, who had gone to get a fresh blanket for her, turned and saw how I was kind of leaning over the pillows, and said something like give me a minute and we can get her back up on the headboard and I said, no, I don’t think we need to. Even with my back to him, I could feel the weight of those words hit him, and he came around the bed to her. We pet her for a few minutes, thanking her for her life, and telling her that we’d miss her, and that she was such a good girl, and then he picked her up and took her to lay on her blanket by the living room window. 

Friday was miserable. He stayed home, using Bereavement Leave to stay home from work for the weekend. Unfortunately, I had to go in because there was so many things I had to do before a mega-important deadline. Clover was still on the blanket when I got up in the morning (of course... where else would she be?) and as I pet her, realism set in; she was already cold and stiff, really driving home that this was a dead cat, not a sleeping cat. 

It was hard to keep my head on straight as I worked on spreadsheets, but I was able to leave work early, getting home around 2. Hubs had covered Clover with a second blanket, tucked in like she was taking a little nap. We buried her in the side yard, near our bedroom, the opposite side of the property from where we buried Salem. We feel surrounded and protected by both of them. 

Christmas will be quiet and small and melancholy this year. But I’m so very thankful that hubby talked me into decorating. It was always a favorite time for her, and I can still feel her here, among the flickering candles and colorful lights of the tree. 

People who’ve not had pets, people who’ve never loved their pets as a member of their family, they can’t quite grasp how difficult this is, and even I, who love my pets, can’t quite grasp why this is this difficult. You want to shrug and say It’s just a cat but it’s not… They're so much more than just a pet. It’s 14 years of friendship and dead mice and snuggles and meows and stinky cat food and head butts and belly rubs and chases and scratches and purrs and finger licks and unconditional love. 

So as I said earlier, we will (one day) honor her memory by rescuing other cats, as we rescued her, but that won’t be right now. The pain is too real, too fresh… We need time to sit with our grief and feel our feelings and let them settle into a dullness, all the sharp edges rubbed off of them by time. 

Goodbye, my beautiful girl. 

You were such a loved and treasured part of this family, 

and your loss will be felt in innumerable ways within our home, 

now with empty windowsills and unprotected spaces. 

(ETA... I'm actually posting this on December 26th, because every time I come to post this, I just can't... It's like closing a door on her and finally letting go, and even 2 weeks later, I'm not ready to let go yet. I'm sitting here, typing with my eyes closed, with tears running down my face... I can't hit publish because that is the ultimate "It's Over" moment of this whole thing... This is probably the written  version of people who film themselves crying on TikTok, haha... but dammit, I just can't do it...)

You Always Think There's More Time

After our previous cat passed away 20 years ago, I didn't think that I wanted another cat. Salem (said previous cat) hated me - he'd pee on my side of the bed, an hour or two before bed time so that when I got in bed, it was not only wet, but cold, too. 

But in 2010, just a few days after my mother-in-law passed away (a notorious Cat Lady herself), I started hearing little niggles in the back of my head, it's time to get a cat, get a cat, you want a cat, go get a cat. I started 'shopping' the websites of local shelters, seeing what cats were out there, and if any of them called to me. There was a beautiful black Bombay in our local animal shelter, and that was the cat that I wanted. 

He didn't want me, though! When I went to go see him, he turned his nose up at me, walked to the back of his cage, and ignored me the entire time I was there. Defeated, I went home. A few hours later, with husband and kiddo in tow, we went back to the shelter to look for a different cat. There, over in cage #7, was this quiet little black and white shorthair kitten just peeping at us from behind the door. I don't think that she was there earlier in the day, or I would have remembered her. She didn't meow super-loud, or swipe at me, or anything. She just made quiet eye contact, and I knew, I just knew, this was My Cat. We adopted her immediately, left her there so she could be spayed (she was only a few months old) and we brought her home a few days later. 

Lucky #7, she found her Forever Home 

I can't even remember her being so small

She settled in and grew to be a very stoic, quiet cat. She was never a Cuddly Cat, or a Lap Cat, or a Vocal Cat. She was a Protector; she would always position herself in the home where she could see where all three of us (and later, just the two of us) were at all times, and usually between us and the front door. She would stay in the living room at night and sleep on top of the love seat so she could assess the inside and outside situations and keep watch. She has led a very peaceful life here for 14 years. 

One of the very rare times she spent time in my home office

She much preferred the sunshine and comfort of the windowsill

Over the past few months, Clover has been dealing with a recurring infestation of fleas. We think that the neighborhood feral cats have been the cause of this… Clover likes to go outside when she can sneak by us and let the grass tickle her belly. I would assume that the stupid fleas come in on our shoes and socks and pants legs when we walk from the car to the house. And once they’re in, they’re a bitch to get rid of! We’ve had to bathe her a few times, and give her some Capstar pills (amazing magical pills!). 

Throughout all of this, Clover continually retreated to her Safety Space, on the living room windowsill. Over the past few weeks, it seemed like she was still having a hard time. She’d fall asleep on the windowsill (in her quest to stay away from the fleas) and end up toppling over and landing on the bookshelf underneath. She landed on my plants enough times that I had to move them. It got to the point (it seemed) that she was so addicted to her safety space that she was refusing to even come down for food. The whole time, we’d kept an eye on her and it seemed that – besides the anxiety – she was doing okay. She’s suffered from anxiety before, so this wasn’t really anything new.

 

She loved these window sheers; it was like her hiding space

About two weeks ago, though, we noticed that she was “coughing,” similar to trying to get rid of a hairball, but with no puking sounds. She didn’t do it but once or twice a day, so we just kept an eye on her and gave her extra snuggles. Last week, her ‘coughing’ got worse, to more like three or four times a day, and we noticed that she was breathing heavily, even when just laying down. I also began to notice how slight she was… She’s always been a big cat (topped out at 18lbs at one point), but I could feel her spine and hip bones, and I began to worry. I weighed her and she was under 10 pounds. When we put it altogether (the Safety Space, the lack of appetite, the trouble breathing), we realized that something was really wrong and that it was time for a vet visit. 

Internally, I thought it’d be something simple, like bad teeth that didn’t allow her to eat solid food, or complications from the stupid fleas. 

Oh, how I wish it was that. 

After we told the vet all of the problems, they kept her to do some bloodwork, a physical exam, and an x-ray. Even as we drove home, we were both tentatively optimistic that it would be something easily fixable. 

And then the vet called. 

Clover is anemic, but worse… her lungs are full of nodules, and there is fluid in her chest cavity surrounding her lungs. 

She has Lung Cancer. 

The irony is not lost on me. I quit smoking three years before she was even born. I always worry that I will die of lung cancer. But no… my cat is going to die of Lung Cancer. 

There’s not enough fluid in her chest to risk draining it (too stressful for her, in her current condition), and with her history of heart murmurs, there’s no reason to chance it. There’s nothing that an Oncologist can do for her. There’s no medications that can fix her. 

I was given the suggestion that it will happen soon, probably within a week. They suggested putting her to sleep, of course, even saying that it could be done that day, but we opted not to; we wanted to bring her home to pass on here, where she would be safe and loved and cuddled. 

I thanked her for the call and then had to compose myself to go tell Hubby the news. This is a man that feels all the feelings, and feels them so strongly, that I knew this was going to be difficult for him. And it was. I told him what the vet told me and we both had a good cry, then put on our game faces and went to get our baby. I told him that he needed to keep his shit together for the both of us, because I couldn’t be bawling while we drove down the road. 

Thankfully, he was able to stuff it down, but as we drove, I just had tears rolling down my face. I was doing my best to keep it together and not outright bawl, but then I’d think… she’ll never drive down this road with us again, she’ll never smell all the smells in this area, she’ll never be scared of the big truck over here. This was her last car trip home. 

At the vet, we had to wait about 15 minutes for the vet to come out to us, and for safety reasons, we had to do the one thing that she hates the most… we had to put Clover in her cat carrier. Over her 14 years, we’ve only used the carrier for emergencies (she hates boxes and enclosed spaces), but the vet was adamant. As soon as we were in the car, we pulled her out and deposited her right on Hubby’s legs, as that is how she prefers to ride. 

Any time she was in the car, she rode like royalty

She was relatively perky on the way home, big eyes full of wonder, looking around at all the things, smelling all the smells, just like always. She ambled out of the car and took her sweet time walking through the yard, feeling the brown grass on her belly and nibbling on the fallen leaves. Once inside, she was able to hop up onto the arm of the loveseat right near the door so that we could take off her harness and leash while Hubby turned on the heating pad we’d set up for her, under a fluffy blanket. We got a tube of Delectables (what we lovingly call “Cat Gogurt”) and squeezed it out onto a plate for her, and she was able to eat that while laying down (we gave her some regular wet food a few hours later and she’s eaten that, too). 

We had to break the news to The Kiddo, and she took it much better than expected. Maybe because she was at work or only half-awake, I don’t know. It’s hard to break bad news over text message, but that’s how The Kidz do things these days. I feel that, in a few days, when we tell her that Clover has passed, it will hit her for real. 

So now it’s been a few hours since she’s come home and Clover is the Queen of the Castle on her big fluffy blanket atop a heating pad, with food delivered directly to her on one of my “good plates” that we only use for holidays. I think this is an absolutely acceptable exception to that rule. We tried to pick her up to snuggle, but that made it harder for her to breathe, so we can only pet her and love on her while she lays down. 

There is a heating pad tucked under the blanket she's laying on

I honestly don’t know if she’ll make it through the weekend (today is Tuesday, December 3rd). I have two hopes, and they are at war with each other… One hope is that she passes while both of us are here with her, so that she doesn’t die alone, that she passes on surrounded by love, and that he and I can grieve together. But the other hope is that she passes while Hubby is at work, so that he will be spared the final moments of emotional pain, or that she passes while we are both asleep, so that he will not have to bear witness to her last moments as she gasps for air and finally gives up… No matter what happens, I hope that she just drifts away and passes in her sleep peacefully, with no pain or stress or fear. 

And after she passes, we will bury her beneath the same tree that we buried Salem, almost 20 years ago, where she can be nearby to protect us, to watch over us, and to know that we will forever love her. 

Total Eclipse Vacation Day 5 (Enjoying a Lazy Sunday)

If you missed Day 4 of our Total Eclipse Vacation, you can catch up HERE

Thanks to the strenuous hike yesterday, I slept like the dead! I think I got up once to pee, but I didn't have my watch on so no idea what time it was. When I woke up, it was around 9ish, and Hubby was already up on his tablet. Again, I was super-stuffy, but no headache. I took more Sudafed and an Aleve. Thankfully, no I just hiked yesterday aches or pains, which seems illogical. We lazed around in bed until noon or so, which just felt delicious, since there are so few times we ever get to be this lazy, before I got out of bed to start fiddling with my camera gear. I wanted to make sure that every single battery was charged, every SD card was cleared, and every lens was ready to go. I scoped out the backyard to double-check that I'd have a clear shot of the sun tomorrow, and thanked the Internet Gods for finding this VRBO for me.

I came back in and gave my sinuses a good steaming, which may have been the grossest thing I've ever done... there was drippage and productive blows that made me wonder what was going on in there! I took a super-hot bath for more steam power, and because I felt like dirty ass after that hike yesterday (and to use up the last of those contraband Epsom salts, too!)

After that, we lazed around on the couch, talking about a whole lot of nothing, then trying to make plans for our half-day in Memphis before we had to go to the airport. I got a lovely foot rub from Hubby (he never does that stuff), and I took his ass back to bed! 

Having worked up an appetite, we decided on Fat City Steak and Grill for dinner, but when we got outside, the poor SUV looked like an entire flock of birds decided to shit all over the car! It was disgusting! Like don't touch the door handle disgusting! We had to find a car wash, but apparently there's not many gas station drive thru car washes in Jonesboro...? We drove over to Tommy's Car Wash, but it was closed. Then we drove over to Rhyno Car Wash, which was also closed. Wat the hell, Jonesboro? You guys roll up your sidewalks at 7pm on Sundays? Everything was so quiet and closed! I was just about ready to give up when we saw a Take 5 Car Wash across the intersection that was still open. We dropped $20 on a basic wash, then got the remaining little poops off with their free cleaner and rags. 

Okay, now we can go to dinner! Fat City was very quiet inside, with only a few tables occupied with families or seniors... Huh. Craighead County is a Dry County, I wonder if that has something to do with why Sundays are so quiet everywhere... Anyway, hubby got his new love, a Club Sandwich, on a croissant, with no fries, while I got a plate of chicken fingers (so adventurous, right?) He loved his sandwich, while mine was just okay. They tasted exactly like the nuggets I make at home, with a basic flour dredge, and the fries were mid. Who knows, maybe my taste buds are still broken... 

Back at the house (and parked a little further away from the tree canopy), it was time to relax and Twitter and sleep, for tomorrow is THE DAY that this whole vacation was planned around. Is it an eclipse, the apocalypse, a rapture, or just a cool scientific and planetary feature that happens? Depends on who you ask!

Total Eclipse Vacation: Day 3 (Extremely Pissapointed)

If you missed Day 2 of our Total Eclipse Vacation, click HERE

We had an early start today because I wanted as much time as possible in the city. We were out of bed and on the road before 7am. We stopped halfway, in Poplar Bluff, for soda and gas, then drove over to Delmar Loop. And I gotta say... St. Louis (at least the way we drove in), was really much nicer than I was expecting! There lots of gorgeous old buildings, and the Washington University campus. Our first stop was an early lunch at Fitz's in The Loop. I got the St. Louis BBQ Burger, Hubby got the River City Burger. 

It tasted a lot better than it looks in this photo, I promise!

Both of us got some Root Beer, of course! OMG, Fitz's was so much tastier than Lambert's yesterday! The flavor was jacked up to 150% and I ate so much I had to practically be rolled down the stairs. We walked around The Loop area, a small district of shops and restaurants, to let our food settle a bit. 

 

I wanted to save the bottle, but it got too dented to keep

Our next stop was in a part of town that just seemed like a very old part of St. Louis (looking at Google Maps, the area is called "Old North St Louis," so I guess I was right), to visit Crown Candy Kitchen, St. Louis' oldest Soda Fountain. 

Crown Candy Kitchen was opened in 1913 by Harry Karandzieff and his best friend Pete Jugaloff. They brought their confectionary skills from Greece, along with a dream of providing a friendly family environment to enjoy their delicious creations. During the early 50’s Harry’s son George took the business over and built the business into what it is today. Now George’s three sons - Andy, Tommy and Mike - run the business, with a little help from the 4th generation.

{Lazy from the future here... As I was working on editing the Crown Candy video that I linked below, I realized something... Crown Candy Kitchen is the location where Man v Food and Adam Richman failed the Five Malt Challenge, way back in the first season of the show in 2009! I was looking at Crown Candy Kitchen's website, and they mention the challenge, and it tickled a little memory from almost 20 years ago... Another thing to note, is that on CCKs menu, they have something called a Heart-Stopping BLT, which was created for Adam after his failed attempt at the challenge. It's a BLT that has 14 pieces of bacon! Yes, please!}

There was a huge line out the door to eat-in, but since we just wanted candy, we were able to go right in. There was this huge shelf and table full of leftover Easter candy that immediately caught my eye. The top shelf was full of molded chocolate bunnies (some of them were huge), but there also tons of smaller bite-size candy. You can watch a local Fox 2 St. Louis news story about their Easter candy business (and even see the huge shelf and table I referenced! This story was reported about 3 weeks before we were there). 

We ended up getting some Vanilla Creme eggs, Maple Creme Eggs, Peanut Butter Eggs, Solid White Chocolate Eggs, Solid Milk Chocolate Eggs, and a dozen butter caramels (six dark and six milk). We tried all of these when we got home, and let me tell you, I so, so, so wish that we'd tried them while we were still in St. Louis, because I would have run back in for more of those Peanut Butter Eggs and solid eggs - they were amazing. You can watch that video at YouTube, or below. 

Finally, though, it was time to go to the Gateway Arch! One of the main reasons we're in St. Louis, and one of the main reasons we decided on this geographical area for the eclipse, really... Hubby thought the idea of going up in the arch was a great idea, and of course, I've always wanted to do it (even before reading The Rift). 

We parked on the other side of Laclede's Landing and walked over. It was another cold and blustery day, but not as bad as it's been. I didn't take a ton of photos, because my plan was to get inside and buy tickets for the tram first, and then shoot my way out. 

But as we made our way closer to the arch, there was a huge sign announcing that tickets were SOLD OUT FOR THE DAY!!! 

Sold out?!?! As in, Lazy & Hubby can't go to the top of the Arch and look down on the Mississippi River and enjoy the claustrophobic elevator/tram cars? Dammit!!! I was spicy about it, but not angry... I was Pissappointed™ (pissed off and disappointed). 

Sorry, Folks, Tram's Closed! Arch out front shoulda toldja 

So we went inside and walked around the museum for a bit, then headed back out, taking photos all the way back to the car. It kind of put a damper on the afternoon, and since we still kind of felt like ass from being sick, we just decided to head home. (More photos at the end of this post, if you like artsy shots)

First, though, was a detour to a place called Wally's. Self-described as the Home of the Great American Road Trip, they seemed to be a very close knock-off of Buc-ee's. They state that they have great service, tasty food, clean restrooms, and unexpected necessities. Similar to Buc-ee's, they tout the cleanliness of their restrooms, large numbers of gas pumps, ample branded souvenirs, and lots of food options. 

They currently only have two locations, and we went to the one in Fenton, Missouri. Now, y'all know that I'm a Buc-ee's gal through and through, but I'll say this... If you've never been to a Buc-ee's, Wally's is amazing. It's big and bright and airy, and was practically deserted when we were there, so no crazy crowds to deal with. Bathrooms, yes, were nice and clean. There's a decent amount of branded items, though they did seem to skew more toward an alcohol-forward lifestyle ("It's Beer O'Clock" type stuff, which isn't for me). Lots of tee shirts, hats, plushies, that kind of thing. I didn't get any (I was still grumpy because of the Arch, and it kind of ruined my day... I do wish I'd gotten some quirky souvenirs, or at least a tee-shirt). 

There's a bakery, a canteen (with fresh foods), a coffee and tea station; there's a wall of jerky and a BBQ island (similar to Buc-ee's). But they do have a few things that are different than Buc-ee's... They have a café for specialty coffee drinks, hand-dipped ice cream, you can order some things online, and my favorite, a Popcorn Bar! They were giving out free samples of the Flavor of the Day, and so there were a handful of young kids around snacking on some popcorn; I asked one of them for their recommendation, and he said to not get the flavor of the day, because it was disgusting, lol. I decided that White Cheddar was the way to go, and they absolutely stuffed the bag full of popcorn! I also picked up some store-brand Pepper Jack chips, and some Teriyaki beef jerky to try when we got home. We made a video tasting all of those goodies (and more that I'll reference later), and you can watch that video on YouTube, or below. 

Back on the open road, my sinus congestion was just getting worse and worse so I decided to throw in the towel and stop at Walmart for some real, full of pseudoephedrine Sudafed... yeah, the good stuff. I used the voice control feature to set the Garmin up (you know, "Hey Garmin, find place... Walmart") and I was so stuffed up it sounded like Hey Garbid, fide pace... Wamard and both Hubby and I lost our shit in a fit of giggles... I sounded so bad! It found what turned out to be a Walmart Neighborhood Market and I was so foggy, I never even thought to look for a regular Walmart. There turned out to be a huge line at the pharmacy, and bless that staff, they were just trying to get everyone served before they had to close at 7pm. 

I popped two Sudafed when I got in the car, and I think it took a good 2-3 hours to fully kick in (I felt better once we got back to the house). Tonight was another night of chips and Little Debbies for dinner, as neither one of us felt 100%, and food would be wasted on us, with our malfunctioning senses of taste... I hope this clears up soon, though! The best part of vacation is all the food! 

Hopefully tomorrow we can finally go over to Petit Jean State Park and Mount Magazine to do some of the trails I've been looking forward to. 

Until then, here's some more artsy, cool-ass photos I took while at the Gateway Arch!

Total Eclipse Vacation: Day 1 (Flying for the First Time)

It's finally time!!!!!!

If you're new here, howdy! Last year, we made the decision to fly for the very first time, to go on vacation to view the Total Eclipse in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Stick around to read all about our adventure in the northern Southern US and the Midwest! 

For the past few days, Hubby's been fighting some sort of cold (hell, could have been Covid for all we knew...). Because of this, he'd been sleeping badly the past few days, too. Also because of this, we'd not been eating healthy dinners, and last night was no exception! I was going to make scrambled eggs, but the eggs were too old to use, so we ended up with a super-healthy dinner of ice cream and chocolate milk... On the bright side, it's full of calcium and protein!  

I was fully packed, showered, and in bed by 8:15pm, watching some TV until I had to force myself to go to sleep. I set my watch alarm for 4:45am, and was out of bed by 5:15am. I set about doing all the typical morning tasks (brushing teeth, doing hair), then drank some OJ and took Dramamine. I woke up Hubby and we were out of the house at 5:55am for our 7:05am flight, via our small, local airport that was 3 miles away. 

The parking lot was pretty full when we got there; we parked about 6-7 rows from the front door, and when we got inside, there were probably 10-15 people already in line for TSA - with only one TSA agent checking people in. I took out all of my stuff like liquids, electronics, and was then chastised by the TSA agent that I didn't need to do that (hey, how about telling us this somehow, like posters or announcements?) I made it through the scanner, but Hubby got flagged because he forgot to take his wallet out of his pocket. I got flagged for my stainless steel water bottle that I'd frozen the night before (3/4 of it was a solid mass of ice), and also for the small bags of Epsom Salts in my toiletry case. They had to take those out and test them for, well, whatever they test them for. Whoops! 

• Lesson Learned - Don't bring frozen water in an opaque bottle
• Lesson Learned - Don't bring Epsom Salts in your carry on

All in all, it took about 30 minutes to go through TSA, and we were already facing Last Call for Boarding when we got to our gate (there were only 2 other parties behind us to get on). And of course, by this point, there was no overhead bin space left, so after all of my planning and packing, we had to gate check our carry-on suitcases anyway... 

On the bright side, we did save $100 for not paying to check them beforehand, so I got that goin' for me. 

• Lesson Learned -  Boarding Time is much more important than Departure Time
• Lesson Learned - Gate-Checking is a smart way to save money (if you want to check small bags)

This plane had about 30 rows of seats - 2 on one side, 3 on the other - and those seats were tiny! Okay, maybe they were smaller than normal and I'm bigger than normal. But they were small enough that I couldn't maneuver my body to get anything out of my Personal Item bag that was stuffed under the seat in front of me, so it was a good thing I had my tiny Baggallini cross-body with my most urgent personal items (glasses, phone, etc). 

• Lesson Learned -  have an easily accessible small bag for your most urgent personal items

We started taxiing down the runway, but got stopped at the end because of heavy traffic in Atlanta, as well as some bad weather, so we had to camp out for about 15 minutes before we finally started take off. I was curious how Hubby would handle it and how terrible I would feel. Thankfully, he did great and I didn't get too sick - it kind of felt like an unfamiliar roller coaster... I didn't know when the dips or rises would happen, so I was at the mercy of the track. If I looked at the wing, I was fine, but if I looked anywhere in the cabin AND I could see out the window (via my peripheral vision), my vertigo issues would kick in, and I'd have to close my eyes a few minutes to 'reset' myself. 

Once we got settled, I was just enthralled with watching the clouds and they were so freakin' beautiful when we got above them, like cotton candy below us. I spent way too much time looking at - and photographing - the clouds, which really was a great way to distract myself from turbulence. Oh, speaking of turbulence; someone a long time ago described turbulence as Sky Potholes, and it really stuck in my brain... The plane was fine, it just hit a pothole! There was no WiFi or seat-back entertainment, so I spent the entire flight (when I wasn't taking photos) playing Free Cell on my phone. 

Obligatory Shot of the Clouds over Florida

We got into Atlanta about 20 minutes late, with an additional 20 minutes to deplane everyone. Using the Plane Trane to get from our gate to Concourse A was very fast and easy. Our connecting flight was loading Main 2 when we got there (we were Main 3), but I had to pee! Luckily, this gate was right next to a restroom, I I peed the fastest pee I ever peed, and by the time I got back, it was our turn to load. The cabin was mostly full at this point, but I was able to find a place for my carry on (well, my Personal Item that became my Carry On), but Hubby had to shove his under the seat again. 

We attempted The Middle Seat Game, where you book the window and aisle and hope that the middle seat stays empty, but we lost... We ended up with a young man between us, but he just slept for the entire flight, so maybe we won? 

This plane was bigger, with better overhead fans, and a little more legroom than the other, which was nice, since we had to wait in a long line of planes before we took off. It was cool to watch them all just line up like cars, to take off one after the next. I think we were about 20th in line, with another 10 that I could see behind me. Takeoff was much more powerful, since it was a bigger plane, too. I was able to get WiFi on this plane, but still no seat-back entertainment, so I stuck with FreeCell again. The Tiny Snack Lady came by and I got a tiny bottle of water and a tiny bag of tiny SunChips in Garden Salsa. They were meh. 

Obligatory Shot of the Clouds over Georgia

We landed on time and, because the Memphis airport is so small, it didn't take long for us to 'park' and deplane. Since we gate-checked our suitcases, we had to go down to Baggage Claim, and then trek over quite a ways to the Rental Car area. As we stepped outside, we were hit with chilly weather! It was about 55º outside! It was 70º when we left north Florida at 7am! 

Avis assigns a car to you in the app so that you can go right to it (no need for employees and check-in desks), but also gives you a few options. We were assigned a Mitsubishi Outlander, but could also have chosen a Chrysler 300 or a Buick Enclave. We didn't even think to go check out the other options (they were in other random parking spots), and just stuck with the Outlander, but in hindsight, I wish we'd gone with the Buick. On the upside, this Outlander is brand new, like It Only Has 5 Miles on the Odometer new, which was nice. Didn't have to worry about any previous scratches or smells.  

• Lesson Learned - Check out all of the rental car options before choosing one

We pointed the Garmin to our lunch destination and headed out of the garage. Oddly, the Garmin said it would take two hours to get to where we were going; that seemed... really wrong. But we got on the road and followed the directions. However, when we got to the Mississippi State Line, we knew that something was fucky. 

Actual data from Garmin BaseCamp showing our (very wrong) route

I'd left the Garmin on "Avoid Highways," and for some reason I couldn't comprehend, it was sending us southeast instead of northeast! The map above is from Garmin BaseCamp that is the actual route we drove.  I pulled over to the side of the road and used the Outlander's Nav system to take us to lunch (with highways!) Included the backtracking, it only took an hour to get us back to where we needed to go originally. 

The "normal" way to get to where we were going

• Lesson Learned - Check your Garmin settings before getting on the road!

Finally at Tacker's Shake Shack, Hubby got a club sandwich with potato wedges, and I got a Bacon Pepper Jack cheeseburger with Tots. Hubby still wasn't feeling well and could only eat about half of his sandwich and a few wedges. Mine was tasty, but bacon and pepper jack cheese don't really mesh well together as well as I'd hoped. 

Our next stop was a nearby Walmart to get our grocery pickup (I was smart and set up an online grocery pickup order last night before we left) then finally get ourselves over to the VRBO and unpack. Hubby immediately went and face-planted into bed once the car was unpacked - he's really not feeling well at all (fever, stuffy, sneezing, etc). I turned up the heater to warm up the house, and threw a few extra blankets over him once I realized he was dead to the world. I set about putting all of the groceries away, setting things out to charge, and chilling our sodas. I curled up in bed with him around 5pm or so as he dozed on and off. At this point, it felt like I'd read all of Twitter, so I played more FreeCell. Had some truly random and incoherent discussions with Hubby during those times when he was awake. 

Dinner ended up being two bags of lunch-box-size chips, two Little Debbie snacks, and two bottles of water. By the time 'dinner' was over, I was assuming that going to St. Louis was out of the question for tomorrow... But that's okay; we'll play tomorrow by ear and do St. Louis on Friday. Him getting better is most important, because otherwise this entire vacation will suck for both of us.