My Final Communication

Was it in the movie Apollo 13, when they circled the dark side of the moon, and they signed off just before they lost communications, and Earth wouldn’t hear from them until they had come back out from behind the moon. Does anyone else remember that? Or was it from a different movie? Anyway, I am not going to look it up on-line! You are just going to have to bear with me. Because this may be my last communication until I get back in the States. I know I will have internet in Kenya, but I don’t know how much I will actually get on-line. Enough to e-mail the family waiting anxiously back home to hear from me, while I leave all of my fans hanging. I know, I’ve broken your hearts. So sorry.

But get over it. Here is my list of goals for this time around and what I have accomplished.

Throughout April – Continue asking for donated supplies to take to Kenya.

                                DONE, the suitcase is full!

By April 1             – Finish Chapter 30 on my novel.

DONE

By April 2             - Contact my local radio station about doing a spot for my book and the Women on the Wings of Faith talk I am giving the end of the month.

DONE

By April 5             – Get typhoid meds, malaria meds, and antibiotics for the trip.

                                DONE, finished my typhoid meds yesterday, the rest are ready to go.

By April 5             – Call airlines to give them our passport information.

                                DONE

April 6                   - Attend Book Festival in St. Peter, Minnesota.

DONE

By April 10           - Purchase Travel Insurance.

                                DONE

By April 11           – Email two people questions asking about adoption for my book.

                                Not done, and not happening L

By April 12           – Revise WSMA gmail accounts.

                                DONE

By April 13           - Finish Doni’s Form Builder questions for WSMA.

                                DONE, for now.

By April 14           – Have final power point for my talk on my book at WOWOF on April 24.

                                DONE

By April 14           - Have cleaned out the spare bedroom so Val can move her stuff home.

                                DONE

By April 15           - Finish Chapter 31 on my novel.

                                Not done and no guarantees.

April 18 – 20        - Attend the WSMA convention in Neenah.

                                DONE

April 22, 9:30 am – Live on the air interview on my local radio station, to promote my trip, my book and my speaking engagement on the 24th.

DONE. It went off without a hitch, or that’s the feeling I got. Unlike the TV interview, I wasn’t able to tape this which is perhaps just as well.

April 24, 6:30 pm - WOWOF presentation.

DONE. Again, it seemed to go well. Afterwards, somebody handed me a CD of the presentation, but it was just audio and no video. That’s still ok.

By April 30           - Have worked up to running a full mile to see if I can do it.

If the pain in my ankle doesn’t let up this whole dream may be over. When I get back from Africa I really need to see a doctor about this.

By May 1              - Have moved my daughter Val’s stuff home.

Doesn’t need to be done. Val is taking all her stuff to her boyfriend’s, so none of this is my problem. YEAH!

May 3                    - Take my Kinship kid to the Colton Dixon concert in Milwaukee.

Not done because it is not May 3 yet, but I did print out our tickets and made our hotel reservations for Friday night.  

May 5 – 19          - Gone to Africa.

By May 26           - Have gotten the garden ready to plant.

By May 31           - Have run 3 miles to know if I will ever be able to run a 5K.

By June 1             - Have planted the garden.

June 8                   - Attend the concert in Minnesota with my friend Phyllis.

By June 10           - Have made plans for our vacation in September (Wow, that sounds like a long ways away).

July 4                     - If I haven’t run a 5K yet anywhere else, I will run in the one here in town on the Fourth of July.

And that is all, my friends, until we meet on-line again….

At my presentation Wednesday night (because I can't close without one last picture). 

Running out of time.

Things are winding down - or are they winding up? I don't know, but I am running out of time. 

Throughout April – Continue asking for donated supplies to take to Kenya.

Continuing – Thursday morning one of the pharmacist’s from our local pharmacy called and said that they had put together a box of supplies for us to take to Kenya. I told him I could come pick it up some time, but he said he would drop it off on his lunch hour. When the box arrived, I started crying. Here is all what was included. Awesome.

By April 1             – Finish Chapter 30 on my novel.

Done April 5

By April 2             - Contact my local radio station about doing a spot for my book and the Women on the Wings of Faith talk I am giving the end of the month.

Set up for 9:35 tomorrow morning. I suppose I should think about what I will say.

By April 5             – Get typhoid meds, malaria meds, and antibiotics for the trip.

I just started my typhoid pills this morning. There used to be a shot for typhoid, but it has gotten crazy expensive. So instead of one quick poke with a needle, I have to take a pill every other day until Saturday. The pills have to be refrigerated and I have to take them on an empty stomach and with a liquid that is not hot. Really? What a pain. A shot is less painful, I think.

By April 5             – Call airlines to give them our passport information.

Done April 3

April 6                   - Attend Book Festival in St. Peter, Minnesota.

Done April 6

By April 10           - Purchase Travel Insurance.

Still researching this. I absolutely positively have to do this today.  

By April 11           – Email two people questions asking about adoption for my book.

I think this might have to wait until I come back. My friend who gave her baby up for adoption is moving back home, so I might wait until I can get together with her and take it from there.

By April 12           – Revise WSMA gmail accounts.

I finished these on April 14 and handed out the 31 passwords to the people who need them at my state convention yesterday.

By April 13           - Finish Doni’s Form Builder questions for WSMA.

I think I will take this off my list, since it has become apparent that this will be ongoing. Maybe the goal should be to do ten of them a month or something.

By April 14           – Have final power point for my talk on my book at WOWOF on April 24.

                                I have to do this today too!        

By April 14           - Have cleaned out the spare bedroom so Val can move her stuff home.

Done April 12.

By April 15           - Finish Chapter 31 on my novel.

April 18 – 20        - Attend the WSMA convention in Neenah.

This is in the record books and you can read all about it on the WSMA Facebook page, which is another duty I have – keeping that up to date. I was also the installation officer (i.e. emcee) for the banquet on Saturday. Not a big deal, but I’m glad it is over with.

April 22, 9:30 am – Live on the air interview on my local radio station, to promote my trip, my book and my speaking engagement on the 24th.

April 24, 6:30 pm - WOWOF presentation.

By April 30           - Have worked up to running a full mile to see if I can do it.

If only it would stop snowing. I got my mom’s treadmill last week, but running on that is worse than watching paint dry.

By May 1              - Have moved Val’s stuff home, except that now she might leave most of her stuff at her boyfriend's apartment so that would help me out.

May 3                    - Take my Kinship kid to the Colton Dixon concert in Milwaukee.

                                I have the tickets, but I suppose I should make hotel reservations.   

May 5 – 19          - Gone to Africa.

By May 26           - Have gotten the garden ready to plant.

By May 31           - Have run 3 miles to know if I will ever be able to run a 5K.

By June 1             - Have planted the garden.

June 8                   - Attend the concert in Minnesota with my friend Phyllis.

By June 10           - Have made plans for our vacation in September (Wow, that sounds like a long ways away).

July 4                     - If I haven’t run a 5K yet anywhere else, I will run in the one here in town on the Fourth of July.

Not much getting done

I can't believe it is Wednesday already. I leave for Africa in 15 days. Yikes! Will I really get as much done as I need to?

Throughout April – Continue asking for donated supplies to take to Kenya.

Continuing – I put a sign up at work with a list of the specific things I need, as well as emailed a group of my church friends. I always feel funny asking for stuff, so I kind of have been waiting until people ask me if they can donate anything. But it is getting to be crunch-time, so I better get more aggressive.

By April 1             – Finish Chapter 30 on my novel.

Done April 5

By April 2             - Contact my local radio station about doing a spot for my book and the Women on the Wings of Faith talk I am giving the end of the month.

I emailed them on April 3, but when I hadn’t heard back from them this week, I called the radio station and set up the interview for April 22. Great. More stress.

By April 5             – Get typhoid meds, malaria meds, and antibiotics for the trip.

I got mine taken care of on April 3. I continued shopping around for prices for my daughter as she doesn’t have insurance. On April 9, I finally called them into Walgreens as that was where I got the best price. She called me on April 12 to say that when she picked up her pills at Walgreens (at the corner of Happy and Healthy), they asked if she wanted to sign up for their discount program for $20. She said sure and ended up saving like nearly $300. Yes, it’s the corner of Happy and Healthy.

By April 5             – Call airlines to give them our passport information.

Done April 3

April 6                   - Attend Book Festival in St. Peter, Minnesota.

Done April 6

By April 10           - Purchase Travel Insurance.

Still researching this. I tried get this done last weekend. Yea, but I failed at that. I will try again this weekend.  

By April 11           – Email two people questions asking about adoption for my book.

I think this might have to wait until I come back. My friend who gave her baby up for adoption is moving back home, so I might wait until I can get together with her and take it from there.

By April 12           – Revise WSMA gmail accounts.

I finished these on April 14. Now I just have to print out all 31 passwords to hand out this weekend. And the chairman of that committee just emailed me a bunch of questions. Uck.

By April 13           - Finish Doni’s Form Builder questions for WSMA.

I’ve been doing a few of these each night, but since this appears to be an ongoing thing, kick back this date to infinity.

By April 14           – Have final power point for my talk on my book at WOWOF on April 24.

By April 14           - Have cleaned out the spare bedroom so Val can move her stuff home.

Done April 12.

By April 15           - Finish Chapter 31 on my novel.

April 18 – 20        - Attend the WSMA convention in Neenah.

April 22, 9:30 am – Live on the air interview on my local radio station, to promote my trip, my book and my speaking engagement on the 24th.

April 24, 6:30 pm - WOWOF presentation.

By April 30           - Have worked up to running a full mile to see if I can do it.

So far, I get that mile done by walking half of it and running half of it. My coach says that’s the way to do it. He hasn’t ever actually seen me run though.

By May 1              - Have moved Val’s stuff home, except that now she might leave most of her stuff at her boyfriend's apartment so that would help me out.

May 3                  - Take my Kinship kid to the concert in Milwaukee. I can't believe I forgot all about this. She reminds me of it all the time! I am taking her to see her biggest idol, Colton Dixon. I don't know how I get roped into these things. And it's like two days before I fly to Kenya. 

May 5 – 19          - Gone to Africa.

By May 26           - Have gotten the garden ready to plant.

By May 31           - Have run 3 miles to know if I will ever be able to run a 5K.

By June 1             - Have planted the garden.

June 8                   - Run that 5K, if I am going to.

 I don’t have to worry about this anymore as my friend in Minnesota has got tickets to a Christian concert this weekend, but I think I will keep running. Word has gotten out at work, so one of the docs wants to put together a team to run the 5K here in town over the Fourth of July. Apparently I cannot avoid this.

June 8                   - Go to that Christian concert with my friend in Minnesota.

By June 10           - Have made plans for our vacation in September (Wow, that sounds like a long ways away).

Now my list is teal.

 I have continued to slowly whittle away at my list. I think that I might actually get this all accomplished.

Throughout April – Continue asking for donated supplies to take to Kenya

Continuing – I think I am going to put a sign up at work with a list of the specific things I need, as well as emailing everyone again. You would think that more of my co-workers would come through for me, but so far I’ve only gotten stuff from two of them.

By April 1             – Finish Chapter 30 on my novel

Done April 5

By April 2             - Contact my local radio station about doing a spot for my book and the Women on the Wings of Faith talk I am giving the end of the month

I emailed them on April 3, but when I hadn’t heard back from them this week, I called the radio station and set up the interview for April 22. Great. More stress.

By April 5             – Get typhoid meds, malaria meds, and antibiotics for the trip

I got mine taken care of on April 3. I continued shopping around for prices for my daughter as she doesn’t have insurance. On April 9, I finally called them into Walgreens as that was where I got the best price. She called me on April 12 to say that when she picked up her pills at Walgreens (at the corner of Happy and Healthy), they asked if she wanted to sign up for their discount program for $20. She said sure and ended up saving like nearly $300. Yes, it’s the corner of Happy and Healthy.

By April 5             – Call airlines to give them our passport information

Done April 3

April 6                   - Attend Book Festival in St. Peter, Minnesota

Done April 6

By April 10           - Purchase Travel Insurance

Still researching this. I will try to get this done yet this weekend.  

By April 11           – Email two people questions asking about adoption for my book

By April 12           – Revise WSMA gmail accounts

 I had 31 of these to do and have nine left. I should be able to finish them tonight.

By April 13           - Finish Doni’s Form Builder questions for WSMA

I’ve been doing a few of these each night, but since this appears to be an ongoing thing, kick back this date to infinity.

By April 14           – Have final power point for my talk on my book at WOWOF on April 24

By April 14           - Have cleaned out the spare bedroom so Val can move her stuff home

Done April 12, pictures included.

By April 15           - Finish Chapter 31 on my novel

April 18 – 20        - Attend the WSMA convention in Neenah

April 22, 9:30 am – Live on the air interview on my local radio station, to promote my trip, my book and my speaking engagement on the 24th. 

April 24, 6:30 pm - WOWOF presentation

By April 30           - Have worked up to running a full mile to see if I can do it

By May 1              - Have moved Val’s stuff home (since she is going to be gone for 3 months, she is pretty sure she is not going to keep her apartment)

May 5 – 19          - Gone to Africa

By May 26           - Have gotten the garden ready to plant

By May 31           - Have run 3 miles to know if I will run in 5K on June 8

By June 1             - Have planted the garden

June 8                   - Run that 5K, if I am going to I don’t have to worry about this anymore as my friend in Minnesota has got tickets to a Christian concert this weekend, but I think I will keep running. Word has gotten out at work, so one of the docs wants to put together a team to run the 5K here in town over the Fourth of July. Apparently I cannot avoid this.

June 8                   - Go to that Christian concert with my friend in Minnesota

By June 10           - Have made plans for our vacation in September (Wow, that sounds like a long ways away)

And not on the list… I contacted a fellow blogger who posts reviews of books and she got back to me already that my book will be included on her blog, Books for Book Lovers, on April 24. Also I finished reading one of the five books which I have been reading for quite some time.  I immediately wanted to start reading another book, but have convinced myself that I need to stop that madness until I return from Kenya. 

 When we first bought the house in 1990, this was actually my bedroom. In 1999, when we remodeled it became my son's room. When he moved out for good last year, I turned it into my Snoopy room. 

Last month, I moved my Snoopy room across the hall into my office. And this weekend I totally cleaned out and washed and waxed Nick's old room. 

Hopefuly there will be enough room in here for Val's bed. I think the rest of her stuff can get stuffed in a closet. Note that I did put Nick's scouting awards back on the wall. 

Yes, my son made Eagle. I guess we are a goal-setting - and acheiving -family. 

I'm seeing lots of yellow!

Yeah, right, don't I wish. This picture was actually taken on April 20 of last year. Right now there is still a foot of snow in this spot in my yard. And the forecast is for up to ten inches of the white stuff over the next 48 hours. Arrgh! Will Spring never come to the Northwoods!

Luckily, there is some yellow in my life. My to-do list is looking more and more doable. 

Throughout April -  Continue asking for donated supplies to take to Kenya

I talked to one of my local pharmacists on Friday and she is going to work on getting me another glucometer and test strips.

By April 1             – Finish Chapter 30 on my novel done April 5

By April 2             - Contact my local radio station about doing a spot for my book and the Women on the Wings of Faith talk I am giving the end of the month done April 3. Since I hadn’t heard back yet, I called the radio station on April 10 and set up the interview for April 22. Great. More stress.

By April 5             – Get typhoid meds, malaria meds, and antibiotics for the trip done April 3, mine at least. April 9, called in my daughter’s pills. She was going to pick them up on April 10, but I haven’t heard how much they cost her.

By April 5             – Call airlines to give them our passport information done April 3

April 6                   - Attend Book Festival in St. Peter, Minnesota done April 6

By April 10           - Purchase Travel Insurance done April 10

By April 11           – Email two people questions asking about adoption for my book

By April 12           – Revise WSMA gmail accounts I have 31 of these to do and have been doing a few a night.

By April 13           - Finish Doni’s Form Builder questions for WSMA

By April 14           – Have final power point for my talk on my book at WOWOF on April 24

By April 14           - Have cleaned out the spare bedroom so Val can move her stuff home

By April 15           - Finish Chapter 31 on my novel

April 18 – 20        - Attend the WSMA convention in Neenah

April 22, 9:30 am – Live on the air interview on my local radio station, to promote my trip, my book, and my speaking engagment on the 24th. 

April 24, 6:30 pm - WOWOF presentation

By April 30           - Have worked up to running a full mile to see if I can do it

By May 1              - Have moved Val’s stuff home (since she is going to be gone for 3 months, she is pretty sure she is not going to keep her apartment)

May 5 – 19          - Gone to Africa

By May 26           - Have gotten the garden ready to plant

By May 31           - Have run 3 miles to know if I will run in 5K on June 8

By June 1             - Have planted the garden

June 8                   - Run that 5K, if I am going to I don’t have to worry about this anymore as my friend in Minnesota has got tickets to a Christian concert this weekend, but I think I will keep running, and maybe run in the 5K over the Fourth of July.

June 8                   - Go to that Christian concert with my friend in Minnesota

By June 10           - Have made plans for our vacation in September (Wow, that sounds like a long ways away)

A Very Late Check-In

Though this seems like an impossible list to accomplish in the next 80 days, I am making some headway. I was in Minnesota this weekend, and even though I got home by mid-afternoon, I have been too busy to get to the computer. 

Throughout April -  Continue asking for donated supplies to take to Kenya

I talked to one of my local pharmacists on Friday and she is going to work on getting me another glucometer and test strips.

By April 1             – Finish Chapter 30 on my novel done April 5

By April 2             - Contact my local radio station about doing a spot for my book and the Women on the Wings of Faith talk I am giving the end of the month done April 3 and I still haven’t heard back from them

By April 5             – Get typhoid meds, malaria meds, and antibiotics for the trip done April 3, mine at least. I am still working on getting Val’s as she doesn’t have insurance and the doxycycline to prevent malaria has skyrocketed in price.

By April 5             – Call airlines to give them our passport information done April 3

April 6                   - Attend Book Festival in St. Peter, Minnesota done April 6

By April 11           – Email two people questions asking about adoption for my book

By April 12           – Revise WSMA gmail accounts

By April 13           - Finish Doni’s Form Builder questions for WSMA

By April 14           – Have final power point for my talk on my book at WOWOF on April 24

By April 14           - Have cleaned out the spare bedroom so Val can move her stuff home

By April 15           - Finish Chapter 31 on my novel

April 18 – 20        - Attend the WSMA convention in Neenah

April 24, 6:30 pm - WOWOF presentation

By April 30           - Have worked up to running a full mile to see if I can do it

By May 1              - Have moved Val’s stuff home (since she is going to be gone for 3 months, she is pretty sure she is not going to keep her apartment)

May 5 – 19          - Gone to Africa

By May 26           - Have gotten the garden ready to plant

By May 31           - Have run 3 miles to know if I will run in 5K on June 8

By June 1             - Have planted the garden

June 8                   - Run that 5K, if I am going to I don’t have to worry about this anymore as my friend in Minnesota has got tickets to a Christian concert this weekend, but I think I will keep running, and maybe run in the 5K over the Fourth of July.

June 8                   - Go to that Christian concert with my friend in Minnesota

By June 10           - Have made plans for our vacation in September (Wow, that sounds like a long ways away)

New and totally crazy goals for this round

Ok, I know that over the last month I have been actually pulling back on my goals, making them more attainable and less rigid. In the long run, that is still my goal. KISS. Keep it simple, stupid, or so the saying goes. That being said I have an insane schedule for the next two months. I have got way too much to do to just be like, ok, do what you can, when you can. Thus I have some really specific goals which have some specific deadlines.

When you read these goals, you have to remember the following:

1)     I work in a medical clinic Monday through Thursday, 36 to 40 hours a week, as a certified medical assistant. To keep my certification current I am involved in the state society of medical assistants (WSMA, for shor). I used to be very active in this organization, but have scaled back on those responsibilities. However, I still have some stuff to do prior to the state convention in three weeks.

2)      I leave for Africa on May 3; I cannot change that deadline. I have a lot to do before that. I have left a lot of the planning up to my daughter, but that is still stressful because I wonder what I am getting myself into it.

3)      I consider myself to be in OK physical shape, but I have never been a runner. A co-worker has talked me into running in a 5K in June. On my first run last week, I made it two-tenths of a mile before I thought my lungs were going to explode.

4)      My mom’s health continues to decline. I never know what time of the day or night she will call me to run over to her house to do something for her.  

So here is how my schedule looks. For now.

Throughout April - Continue asking for donated supplies of things to take to Kenya with me

By April 1             – Finish Chapter 30 on my novel

By April 2             - Contact my local radio station about doing a spot for my book and the Women on the Wings of Faith talk I am giving the end of the month

By April 5             – Get typhoid meds, malaria meds, and antibiotics for the trip

By April 5             – Call airlines to give them our passport information

April 6                   - Attend Book Festival in St. Peter, Minnesota

By April 11           – Email two people questions asking about adoption for my book

By April 12           – Revise WSMA gmail accounts

By April 13           - Finish Doni’s Form Builder questions for WSMA

By April 14           – Have final power point for my talk on my book at WOWOF on April 24

By April 14           - Have cleaned out the spare bedroom to make ready for Val moving her stuff home

By April 15           - Finish Chapter 31 on my novel

April 18 – 20        - Attend the WSMA convention in Neenah

April 24, 6:30 pm - WOWOF presentation

By May 1              - Have moved Val’s stuff home (since she is going to be gone for 3 months, she is pretty sure she is not going to keep her apartment)

May 5 – 19          - Gone to Africa

By May 26           - Have gotten the garden ready to plant

By May 31           - Have run 3 miles to know if I will run in 5K on June 8

By June 1             - Have planted the garden

June 8                   - Run that 5K, if I am going to

By June 10           - Have made plans for our vacation in September (Wow, that sounds like a long ways away)

Woof-da. That’s all I have to say about that.