um less than 24 hours is all I know.
I have nervous stomach and a muscle twitch. My bag is way too heavy, I need to edit. I was talking with Kathou and she said, “think about all the cool stuff you’ll get to see.” I thought about it. It is rather surreal. I get to walk on the Great Wall, I get to see the Forbidden City, I get to see the Terracotta Soldiers. I’m so lucky and thankful I have the opportunity to do this, and with 4 amazing women no less. I’m going to miss my boys terribly, but I am trusting everything will be fine.
I’m not sure about the internet access where we are going. I am told there is access everywhere we are staying, but we’ll see. I’m taking my netbook with me so I will try to post if I can. If not I will at least try to upload photos to my Picassa account and they should show up on the sidebar (I know they are lavender festival photos at the moment).
I am leaving my house at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday morning. I have to be at the “rendezvous point” at 5:00 in. the. morning. I didn’t even know there was a 5:00 in the morning in the Summer… let alone a 4:00 in the morning (the time in which I have to get up to shower and finish packing).
This China trip is turning into something akin to going to Russia for 3 1/2 weeks. Only difference is that I’m going by mah self and I’m not bringing home a child… I’m bringing home 3 (hopefully)!! Whee! Only they are teenagers and not mine and I have to return them to their parents and hopefully I don’t lose anyone. Although, we are visiting an orphanage while we are there… I did always want a girl.
Everything leading up to the trip has gone very smoothly. Fundraising was fairly easy, I’ve paid all of my money, there was the little hiccup where my Visa got denied, but I got that fixed and all is good. Something had to go wrong. It is me after-all and no long term overseas trip is without its follies in my world. Oh wait, I know. There is record flooding in the province we are supposed to be going to. Then we found out yesterday that the guy who is supposed to be our guide and who has arranged this whole trip isn’t in China anymore (where he is supposed to be waiting for us to arrive). Nope. He is here. In the states. At the bedside of is critically ill wife. It isn’t stopping our trip. There are other people involved in leading us around. Only we haven’t met any of them and we are all worried about our guide’s wife… and our guide. This news came second hand and we are working today on getting the whole story.
Then there was Wednesday where I thought, “gee it sure is hot outside. I think I’ll wear my flip flops to work.” My flip flops that are very smooth on the bottom. In the place where I work that I could potentially roll a plant rack over my food (which I did) or drop something on my foot (which I did not do) or I could slip on wet pavement (which I did in spectacular fashion).
In what looked like an episode of Keystone Cops I tried to break my leg when I kicked over a watering can and then as I was going to clean up the mess I slid on the pavement, tried to catch myself and then slid with the other foot square into a planter of flowers. I thought the only thing that would happen was that I would have a bruise on my knee where I hit my leg. Oh it is much worse than that. By Wednesday night my back was fairly sore, but on Thursday my back was screaming. I, of course, had to work and, of course, we had 5 deliveries of various nursery related material (that included flats of plants sitting on the ground that had to be picked up and large plants that had to be unloaded from a truck). Needless to say I went to bed high on muscle relaxers and codine. I was great Friday morning. I was fine on Saturday even after standing all day. Then on Sunday I had the audacity to plug in the iron. The damn iron did me in. I felt a catch in my back and thought I was going to cry.
I spent part of the day yesterday in bed and then in the pool (hoping floating might relieve the pressure). A little bit… maybe. I think it was more muscle relaxers that did the trick (good thing I bonked my head or I wouldn’t have those). This morning I’m mostly ok, but I know if I move wrong it will start all over again. Why is this a bad thing? Oh I don’t know… only something about an 11 hour plane ride on Wednesday, long bus rides later this week and long train rides on cramped bunks. No biggie.
The Summer switch was finally turned on today. Please note that it is July 6th. There is an old adage that Summer starts on July 7th in the Northwest. This year that is most certainly true. Last year we had a wonky summer where it was smoking hot in early June and then cooled off and then we got blasted with 100+ degree heat in July. This year we’ve barely gotten above 70 degrees. It was one of the coldest Mays and Junes on record.
This week will change all of that.
The current forecast is for it to be in the upper 80s in Seattle. That means over 90 here. Remember, we don’t have air conditioning. To prepare myself I have set up the pool and while I was at Target yesterday (looking for pool stuff) I picked up a new box fan.
Every year the trusty husband waits until it is 400 degrees in our house to go out looking for more fans. We already have 5. I grew me some smarts this year and bought a new box fan to replace the one that sounds like a jet engine. I’ve also purchased a 6 pack of filters for our pool. Stores run out of those early too.
I think I’m set for the weather… of course in 8 days I’ll say see ya and let the boys deal with it while I sweat it out in hot AND humidity.
Today I did one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. Pretty much second only to losing Alexander. I had to make the choice to put my sweet kitty to sleep.
By myself.
You see… Derek is out of town. He won’t be home until tomorrow night and odds were kitty wouldn’t make it that long. When I woke up this morning she wasn’t walking, force feeding her wasn’t helping and her face and head started swelling. I took her to the vet before work and they said they would look after her. Later in the afternoon I spoke with the vet and she said that at this point no amount of diagnostics and treatment were going to help her. She was done.
I was able to take time from work to drive back to the vet’s office to say goodbye. She was miserable. I held her and told her it was going to be ok and then the vet allowed me to hold her until she fell asleep. They took her away to euthanize her. I didn’t want to be there for that. I opted for a communal cremation and they dispose of the ashes in Puget Sound, one of my favorite places on Earth.
I left the vet’s office feeling like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I ran some errands for the store and it just so happened that there was a liquor store in the same strip mall as the two other stores I had to go to. I stopped in for a bottle of gin.
My boss is so awesome that he had a drink with me this afternoon.
So here’s to you Kitty, Keeska, Kiki, Titi, Fat Kitty, Jelly Belly, Smelly Belly, Isi girl, Kitty Girl, Baby Girl…Isis.
In the classic Lutheran tradition the women who worked the luncheons and receptions were called “Church Basement Ladies.” You were either considered a Mary or a Martha (I would qualify as a Martha) and you had a wide array of aprons for every occasion. To get a better sense of Lutheran culture I suggest a little light historically accurate reading in the form of “Growing Up Lutheran.” Even if you didn’t grow up in a Lutheran church (which I did not) or become one “accidentally” you will find this read hilarious. As previously suggested I am going to start a “weekly” feature (we all know how my weekly features turn out… weakly) and bring you the best of the best in Basement Lady recipes.
This week’s feature is from the Widow Stensruud herself.
Easy Tomato Aspic
2 C. canned tomato juice, heated with bay leaf. Remo leaf after heating. Add 1 pkg. lemo jello. Pour over hopped onion and celery. (Add a can of crab meat, if desired). Pour into mold.
This is most certainly true.
