Alive and Well in South Africa

My day started at 4am Thursday and for a change all of my flights were on schedule and not canceled, a very shocking surprise from O'Hare! The flight from Washington DC to Johannesberg is a very long flight. But I survived that in 1 piece! Santi, Peter, Liese and
Declan were there at the airport in Johannesburg eagerly waiting for me this afternoon! Hugs all around and yes, I delivered your hugs to them as well. Mari came by this evening, I talked to Cara and Betsi on the phone... how wonderful! Fo far it really doesn't feel like I'm half a world away! What I saw from the airport to Santi and Peter's house looked much like northern Texas really. As we pulled into Middlesburg it seemed like an older quiet town, quite quaint as a matter of fact. I have met the cats, even Flum the naked cat! Although he does have a little bit of hair right now. Santi said he never fully lost his winter coat last year. We're sitting in the office now and he's up on the table wrapped up in his little blanket. Santi and I have been playing on the computer, playing show and tell with her new software. You just wouldn't believe the amount of art work she has acquired! She has enough to meek us all busy for the next many, many years.

We've been talking so long now, I think Peter gave up on us and went to be hours ago. He made me laugh when he said he was going to get me to go cycling with him tomorrow... I said 'good luck with that!" Well, it's almost 3am and it's time to call it a day, a very long day but a day indeed!

Final Countdown

10 pm: I have been so on schedule for this trip it isn't funny. I am, by nature, a procrastinator to the max! But I laid out a schedule of when what needed to be done by and found myself yesterday with a quiet evening rather than the normal chaos associated with a trip! I thought I was doing good but we all knew that something was bound to go wrong.. and it did!

I have decided that the UPS drivers here in Sacramento are not the sharpest crayon in the box. Apparently they couldn't find the 122 unit apartment complex I live in. Santi's thread? It hadn't arrived by yesterday so I contacted Eli at Melco. He spent an hour on the phone with them to get them to deliver it today but no time specified. So that's good I thought. Because of the size of the packaging on the thread I have no problem with space or weight in my bags but it would make my life easier to have everything here when I was packing...

I've had deliveries as late as 7:45 pm from UPS and I fully expected them to take all day to get around to it. I did get all of my last minute stuff done while I paced the floor most of the day. By 6pm I was beginning to be unhappy for the first time since planning this trip! These idiots are messing with my perfect schedule! I was supposed to be in bed (according to the schedule) long before now. Since my first flight leaves Sacramento at 6:30am I need to be up by 3am. It's 10pm now and I have everything staged in the living room and now I need to go throw it in the suitcases.

So, I give up on UPS finally. I emailed Eli and told him I want a phone number for someone at UPS so I can have a "chat" with them. They had their chance with the very nice Melco salesman we have but he's done all he can. My friend, Karen, wants me to do this as a 3 way call (she's seen me when I'm not a happy camper and she just stands back and enjoys the show...).

11 pm: I have the stuff thrown into bags and all of the tops are still open just in case. When I have to pack like this, I tend to throw everything in the luggage that I can get my hands on! Great restraint was exercised here. Jazzy my fawn Pug knows something is up. You can see it in her eyes. Duchess (the black Pug) is more interested in the suitcases, she thinks she needs to crawl in there and go with me I guess. I keep telling her she doesn't have a passport so she can't go even if I had room in the bags, no passport no bye bye! So what am I forgetting? My liquids are in their little quart size bag, of course I had everything in the cabinet except quart size! Lisa, my neighbor, saved me a last minute trip to the store for that. The airlines are rather picky about things like that... All batteries are charged and ready to go, chargers are where I may some day find them (you know, those safe places).

12 am: I'm done for a few hours. I can't think of another thing I need to do at this point. I'm sure as soon as I close my eyes I'll think of something though. Or better yet, standing at the curb at the airport when Jany (my step daughter) pulls away! Oh well, it is what it is right now. Hey, I just remembered that I need a few pieces of jewelry! Oh Cara, I found a watch ;)

Counting Down to Take Off

As my friend Karen would say at this point, it's 1 night and a "wake up" and I'm on my way. I still can't believe that I am going! My mind has been racing today, getting all of those last minute details attended to. So far I'm on schedule, well, my schedule. Tomorrow should be a fairly easy day, just the packing left to do and then relax! Well, I guess we all know that I'll forget something tomorrow at some point, but all of the biggies are covered, ticket... passport.. dog/apartment sitter.

I talked to Santi this afternoon and we were both excited. She said that she couldn't believe that I was actually coming and I said that I couldn't believe I was actually going to go. We've kind of "hatched" this idea for years, but in my mind it was always just talk. This is something that, up until I clicked that "buy" button I never thought I would see.

I've been told that this is one of the most beautiful places on the planet that I could go. I've never thought much about traveling outside of the country as there is so much to see here. Over time the thought, just the thought, about going to see Santi and her wonderful family sounded like a good place to start should I choose to see the world! I think that it's as much who I'm going to spend time with as where I'm going, and I think that I have the order correct there!

For those who have not had the pleasure of meeting Santi and her wonderful family, it is my intent in this blog to share them with you as I know them. They are quite simple "folks" as many of you have discovered. Santi laughs at her "fame" here in the states. She still doesn't understand how important she is in so many of our lives. We have learned to love her and her Team through their embroidery designs.

I'll be posting as I can. I normally do journal in the evenings so this shouldn't be much of a problem to keep up on. I'm saving this for me as much as sharing it with you. I want to remember everything I see and everyone I meet on this journey...