America puzzle

I must have been in a good mood because I let B choose from three 1,000-piece puzzles which would be our next. He chose the "America's Places" one. Alrighty.

August approves.

I came home from work and thought B had finished it during the day. But then I saw some pieces still in the box.

Done and complete!

Nothing from Illinois was included on the puzzle. It did have the St. Louis Arch so that's close. It also had Seattle where E is ...

and L's new home, Orlando.

Buckle Down Brewery

We had been meaning to stop at Buckle Down Brewery in Lyons for awhile and driving back from Champaign on Sunday, we were going pretty much right past it so we grabbed a drink.

I had the Alien Avatar and Andy had the Cactus Pants with a slice of lime. Both good.

This is an overview of the bar I took while we were sitting on stools at a hogh-top table. We were both sore (already) from all the trips to the car to clean up L's apartment so we moved to regular chairs to finish our beers.

So long, L’s apartment

Andy and I went to Champaign yesterday to get the remainders from L's apartment, clean up some things and sweep up a lot of cat hair.

Lots of sweeping.

All clean and ready for her sub-leaser.

Minutes after we tossed things into the dumpster people were going through them. Ewww.

Good bye, apartment on Chalmers Street. We grabbed a quick lunch. dropped off her keys at the leasing office and we were on the way home (after buying two U of I T-shirts).

I did like seeing the corn and clouds on the drive home.

The Trump 2024 sign, not so much.

Engagement pics

I was told not to share E's enagement photos because they want the save-the-date announcements to be a surprise. I can't help myself. The pictures turned out so good. They have about 70 to choose from so I can't get in trouble for sharing one, with them far away, right? The scenery is breathtaking.

L’s 22nd birthday

Even though L will get free admission to the Disney parks once she starts working she wanted an annual pass because employees get blocked out of a lot of days. With birthday money from B, E and D, she bought herself a resident annual pass. Of course, she and T spent her birthday in the parks.

A birthday drink in "Mexico" at Epcot.

Lunch was a cheese and cilantro lime arepa.

Vader got groomed on Wednesday. Oh, my. He looks embarrassed.

Birthday dinner at Planet Hollywood. They told their server it was L's birthday and they put her name on the screen.

Downtown concert

We were too late to get reservations when Second Hand News, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, played at Fitzgerald's so we went downtown last night to Chicago's riverwalk to hear them at the Tiny Tapp.

Chicago is a beautiful city.

It was so crowded we left when the band took a break. The weather was perfect and it was so cool to watch the boats go by, and the people. If you look closely, you can see the band at the river's edge.

We had planned to eat downtown but it was so crowded we never got called for a table so we headed back to the 'burbs and got a pizza at McGaffer's. The band started playing at 6 p.m. and we were home, done with dinner, by 9 p.m. We might be old.

Pretty yard

Our yard looks good this summer. The hanging plants I bought last month are doing well.

The lilies I got from work are continuing to grow but no blooms yet. I might put a few Chicks and Hens into the little pink and green pots.

Coneflowers are blooming in the yard and behind the garage. They're good at attracting butterflies.

This is an area by the patio I rearranged this spring. Can't move the middle clay strawberry pot any more - it's cracked and starting to fall apart.

Florida update

L and T are still unpacking. She has started working full-time at an Orlando Journeys store about five minutes from her apartment. Her district manager from the Champaign store set up the transfer. They went to Ikea on Monday. She said this picture is T learning the joys of assembling Ikea furniture. He bought himself a dresser.

She bought a patio set so they can sit on their balcony and enjoy the Florida heat and humidity.

And L made a display wall for her ears. Andy said T rolled his eyes when he opened the box and saw that it was full of Disney ears. L said he's not thrilled with them on the wall, but he agreed as long as he gets to decorate the other side of the wall. Sounds like a good compromise. L has a few extra hooks just in case (it's inevitable) she gets new ears. And Andy called the moving company and got a credit because they didn't have the car hitch he had reserved.

Quilt sale puzzle

With August not feeling well recently, it's been a while since he's interrupted our puzzle-making. Now, he's feeling much better and he's baaack! Interesting pose, I must say.

Missing one piece unless B can find it on the floor. The design of our dining room rug makes finding puzzle pieces hard for me.

B found the missing piece under my chair! The puzzle is complete.

A bucket, basket and bench

Allison and I hit a couple of yard sales Saturday afternoon. I found this Waterford Marquis ice bucket and had to buy it since the silver matches my china. The Longaberger sleigh basket is something I absolutely don't need but it will look cute with some nuts in it at Christmas.

I got this antique (old?) pine bench to replace a storage box Andy and I toss our clothes onto at the end of our bed. The woman said she was asking $100 for it on the first day of her sale. When we got there she had it marked down to $30 and said she'd negotiate if we were interested in it. Allison offered $15 (she's my negotiator lol) and we settled on $20. It needs new fabric but I think I can do that, or I can enlist E to do it for me.

Moving in

After a good night's sleep, they made it to Florida yesterday afternoon. Andy's not feeling well and thinks he might have Covid but he felt better yesterday than he did Friday. L and T unknowingly hired movers so Andy (and T) wouldn't have to lug things up three flights of stairs. No elevator in the building. Andy said that was a good decision.

They have their apartment keys. L said they bought these keyrings on their Disney trip when they decided to move to Florida and live together. L and Andy both kept saying they'd send pictures of the apartment ... I'm waiting ... I'll add them here when (if?) they send some. Here they are, Still settling in.

The moving truck Andy drove.

Big travel day

Andy and the kids got an early start driving yesterday. When I looked at my iPad at 5:50 a.m. I already had a message to call him when I got up. They started out going south on I-57. At 10 a.m. Andy said they were in Paducah, Ky. L sent this "Welcome to Tennessee" sign picture at about 11:30 a.m.

They passed through Nashville at 12:15 p.m.

They stopped for lunch in Smyrna, Tenn., and apparently got coffee in Murfeesboro, Tenn., around 1:30 p.m. It's nice I can track L's car on the Buick app. She and T were taking turns driving since Andy is towing his car.

From I-57 they went on I-24. Got some rain near Perlham, Tenn. Then they were taking I-75 toward Atlanta, stopping near there for the night. Andy left for his work/golf trip last Saturday morning (after donuts), came home Wednesday in a bad mood, then left for Champaign with the truck Thursday. He said he was tired. I'm sure he was. The hotel in Marietta where they had reservations for the night was apparently so disgusting they left and went to find another. Second hotel is in Forsyth, Ga., quite a ways south of Atlanta. They'll have a shorter than expected drive tody so hopefully they'll sleep in a bit today.

L's summary of the first hotel --the original hotel was absolutely disgusting. the lobby was full of homeless crackheads who idk if they were staying there. the elevator was loud and a nightmare. the room itself had a HOLE in a CONCRETE wall which has to be a structural issue, and none of the outlets and light switches had covers so electrical wires were just out. the bathroom door was in pieces and they left us one single half roll of toilet paper and a single towel. then we realized the entire right side of the room was flooded from the rain!! houdini and vader went under the bed and then i loved the bed and found trash, some random green wax cube, plastic bags and burnt plastic spoons. oh and F-ING MAGGOTS. i immediately picked the cats up and told dad I was not staying in that room and we left, and some random lady saw tyler carrying houdini and reached out to grab him saying “pretty kitty”