Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to being able to totally unplug from the craziness that is America, to enjoy the beauty, the animals, the people, the excitement of a total change. Yesterday I found myself even looking forward to the food!! Unfortunately, southern Zimbabwe was recently hit by a cyclone that wreaked havoc and we aren't sure if that will affect us. I have confidence OAT will look after us well so am not worried about it.
You can guess that my major concern is leaving Rosie and Mama Mia for that long. I've alerted the neighborhood that I'll be away and asked them to douse Rosie with lots of love and affection....as they usually do!! Mama Mia is more of a concern in a different way. She is very frail and I've tried to treat her with things of than hemp oil (Cosequin, Rescue Remedy and something for her skin and coat), but it isn't working as well. So, I've gone back to the hemp oil, which the pet sitter will not be able to administer, and have ordered a hemp product in capsules that can be sprinkled on her food - which she may or may not eat!! That's the best I can do and I hope it works. I'm sure they will be okay but I will miss them.In preparation for a 16-hour flight (from Dullas in DC directly to Johannesburg), I've loaded some audiobooks on my phone. Thanks to a friend (Rhonda T), I've begun using audiobooks as a way to detach from 24/7 MSNBC. I leave one TV on with the sound off, so as not to miss breaking news (!!!), and I listen to an audiobook - and I'm really enjoying them. I've used them before on long car trips and am not sure why I never considered it for general use. I'm also more productive as I can just take it with me wherever I am or whatever I'm doing around the house.
A slight update on our movie experience - we made the local paper!! One of the ladies wrote an article and got it published HERE. It was met with comments and ribbing around the neighborhood and, if anyone wondered about my politics, they know now!
Reyna was away for a week and her daughter's birthday fell during her absence, so Joann came by and asked if I'd help make cupcakes for her class. How can one say no?? So, we went to the grocery store and bought supplies and she concocted grand plans for colors, sprinkles, the works. I was to pick her up on Saturday at 1PM for the project, but when I got there, she had gone to a dance practice - not her practice, but her cousins. So, I went home and thought I'd go ahead and back the cupcakes and frost them (plain frosting). The won't be the grand scheme, but they will be cupcakes! Around 2:30 the doorbell rings and it's Joann. She takes one look at the cupcakes and bursts into tears - "they're white! I wanted colors!" Yada yada yada! I tried to be sympathetic but finally, I pointed out that we had a plan and I was there to pick her up at 1PM. "but I wanted to go to the rehearsal" - well, you got to go AND you have cupcakes. "But they aren't' the colors I wanted" - well, had you been here they would have been. Since I only had about half of them frosted, we colored the other half. By the end of the event, she was in better spirits and I'd already begun practicing saying "NO!"
That's about it for now. I just wanted to touch bases before leaving, but be prepared to be bored with photos and stories when we get back. If it lives up to the first trip, it will be spectacular. We will only have wifi in the evening and in the lounge, but I hope to post photos on FB as I can. In the meantime, take care of one another and be in touch as you can.
I will leave you with this little FB exchange with Bob Smith in Thailand on the occasion of his birthday. It started my day (March 13th) with a laugh.
Thanks to all my friends who sent Birthday greetings for my latest milestone on March 12. I can't believe its 72 years this time around - that's my physical age of course - my mental age is considerably less and getting lower all the time, currently hovering around 12!!!
