The folks and I are visiting Amy & Rachel this week. It’s been a fun, albeit interesting, trip thus far.

Amy’s 15 year old cat (which she’d had for 9 years) had been very sick and not eating. She and Rachel made the difficult decision on Tuesday to call the traveling vet to have him put down. Very sad. So after the folks and I arrived on Wednesday, I stayed with the girls & the folks checked into their hotel room. The vet was supposed to get there at 4:30pm. So we were all sitting with Fruvous upstairs in their bedroom. But she called at 4 to say she wouldn’t be able to make it until 6:30. Gah.

The girls decided to nap, so they napped and Fuvous slept with them. (Very cute – I got a photo.) After a bit he decided to wander. He wound up downstairs by the back door, so the girls decided he should have some outdoor time. So we spent the next hour or so following Fruvous around the yard. He wound up in front of the house, just resting & watching people go by. Around 6, Rachel carried him back into the house and he decided to sit in the basement for a bit. The vet didn’t show up at 6:30, however.

Fru returned to the main floor after a bit, and eventually back up to their bedroom. The vet arrived shortly before 7:30. She apologized for the lateness and removed the housecall charge from their final bill. She was very respectful of Amy & Rachel and Fruvous. The process went by pretty painlessly for Fruvous and the girls. They got to say their farewells and pet him during the process. He was a good cat.

We decided to get out of the house, so Rachel drove us to mom & dad’s hotel to pick them up, then took us to the Birchwood Cafe for a late supper. I had the Heirloom Tomato BLT, which was very tasty. The folks were returned to the hotel and we girls headed home.

Yesterday, like today, I had a blueberry bagel w/ cream cheese and a glass of milk for breakfast. Then Amy dropped me off at the hotel on her way to work. I spent the day with the parental units, having a working lunch with one of dad’s friends from Westar where I pitched using Drupal for Westar’s website to make it more immediate & interactive. We ate at Brit’s Pub, where I had very tasty fish & chips.

Amy was done with work around 4:30 and picked us up soon after. We then spent the evening at their house, having wine time in the kitchen and ice cream on their back deck. A very fun night. The folks then took the bus back to the hotel (successfully, on their own!)

Today started out nicely, except that Rachel had to go to a meeting, then work on a cover letter & update her resume. The folks made it back to the house via bus (but had to wait over 40 minutes for said bus) and then Amy took us off to Grumpy’s where Summit Brewery was having a cask of their beer for folks to try. Not being a regular beer fan (unless it’s beer bread, beer soup, or beer batter), I had a Mike’s Hard Lemonade. But the other’s tried this triple fermented beer (a golden ale, I think they called it) and seemed to enjoy it. Rachel was able to join us afterward, eating a little something from each of our plates (we all had far too much food) and having the Summit beer. She then rode her bike on home to finish up her typing and we went to Home Depot for a new faucet and then to Magers & Quinn bookstore.

It wasn’t until we were nearly to the bookstore that Amy remembered the Uptown Art Fair. But she found a place to park despite all the people there and we went to the bookstore. I picked up two books and met the folks perusing the fair. We were all a bit tired and headed back home.

After some napping, Dad decided to start working on Amy’s shelves in the basement. Amy joined him soon after, then later Rachel bounded down the steps – only to miss the last step. She fell & twisted her ankle, badly. Poor Rachel! After awhile, she was well enough to scoot backward up the steps and Amy drove her to Urgent Care. So the folks and I worked on those shelves, getting them completed only to find out they STILL weren’t stable when built. Dad declared them unsafe, so we took them apart and have since recommended to Amy to take ’em back.

Mom and I made beer bread (which by the end of the evening we were calling Brother Bob’s buttless bitter bundt beer bread) which we wound up putting in a bundt pan when we couldn’t find a bread pan. Then we had wine time from last night’s leftovers. The girls got back from Urgent Care around 9pm and had some beer bread, cheese, and ice cream. Then the folks took the bus back to their hotel. The girls and I chatted some, deciding that despite the twisted ankle, we’d had a good day, and headed for bed.

Here’s hoping tomorrow will be less eventful.