Final days

I'm leaving for Ireland in four days. I just drew up a checklist of what I have to do before then - specifically, stuff I have to do today. This ranges from dragging out my suitcases (one of which hasn't seen the light of day since my last trip to Ireland, and may very well still have a few Irish souvenirs tucked into it), to getting an oil change and car wash, to stopping at a local music store (they're closing one of their locations, so they're having a "Moving Sale"), to pruning my butterfly bushes (they can be pruned anytime during their winter dormancy, and should be pruned nearly to the ground, but I haven't gotten around to it yet, and when I return the third week of March it may be too late).

Ashes seems to be gaining weight. This could be a good sign - maybe he's responding positively to the new medications he started this week - or it could be swelling of some sort. His kidneys are still working (i.e. he's still peeing), so it's probably not just fluid retention.

Had a nightmare about work last night. It involved, for some reason, stamps. I'm stressing out about some changes there, and I'm wondering what I will find when I come back after nearly three weeks away.

I plan to set up a post-dated entry (with a date of, say, March 20th) that will explain that I am away in Ireland, and that I intend to attempt to post from there. Any actual posts from Ireland will appear under this post.

If you'd like a postcard from Ireland, get me your address - soon! What I'll probably do is what I did successfully on my first trip: write out the addresses ahead of time on a sheet of labels, affix the labels to the post cards, and add my message. This way I can focus on the messages, not on looking up addresses.

Better get moving. It's already 8:18 AM - the world will be opening its sleepy Saturday eyes soon! Now, where did I put those loppers so I can start pruning...