Sunday afternoon was Ivy's funeral, complete with military honors. The minister hit just the right combination of philosophy, spirituality, and even levity; I was not the only person to think it might possibly have been the "best" funeral service.  When we first got to the funeral home and saw all the chairs that had been set up, Sandy expected that we would not need most of them.  Of course we were expecting the family from the area, but all of Sandy and Andy's friends came to show their love and support - and by the time the service started there was not an empty seat!

Monday morning there were a couple of very aggravating snafus when I was getting ready to check in for my SWA flight and get my boarding number. It worked out in the end, though (despite hitting the button at the first acceptable second allowed) I still got a depressingly high number. From now on I may just pay the extra fee <sigh> so I can sign up earlier.

Mom and I finished up this visit's Rummikub tournament Monday afternoon with me considerably in the lead. She joked that she was going to take the scoresheet with her the next time she played with her friends at Riderwood; she usually wins when they play, and said given the walloping she got from me they'll think I'm a genius! Lol

That evening, while Andy was doing his final Evidence class (a last chance review before Wednesday's exam) I packed while Sandy and her cousin Glady played Scrabble.  (NO way I was going to join those two excellent players!) after that the three of us played some games of Rummikub.  Glady, who had arrived Sunday morning for the funeral, had brought along Pippa's "cousin" Abby, also a golden retriever, who was coincidentally born on the same day as Pippa. The girls play well together, though now that they're 2 and no longer official <g> puppies they were much less rambunctious than they had been during previous visits with each other.  

Andy and I got out of the house on schedule this morning and had an uneventful drive to the airport in the rain. There was not much of a wait to check my baggage at the curb, though security was the usual line (and again one of my socks set off the first scanner so I had to go through a second one, and even then be patted down afterward.) Still I got to the gate with plenty of time and didn't need to rush. And despite my horrid boarding number, it turned out that there actually was one aisle seat left in the back so I lucked out in that respect. 

Before we left the gate the pilot informed us that we were going to have to detour north to Chicago to avoid some bad weather - though he still expected us to arrive on time, or even early, in Phoenix. There were some times the seatbelt sign was lit, but aside from a couple of little bumps we really didn't experience much turbulence.  I'm certainly not complaining that we had a MUCH smoother ride today than on my flight east!  

Now I'm home (and even unpacked!) and stretched out on the heating pad after sitting for all those hours.