It's 6:15am where I am right now, and it's 10:45am at my destination...
But my PC is stubbornly insisting it's just after midnight...
I just have to stay awake until I get to the hotel...
13 or 14 hours from now :p
Why did I think a 5 hour layover was a good idea??
Oh wait... I didn't...
:p
Oh! And due to a SERIOUS mis-calculation on my part... I'm stuck here for 5 hours with only about 90 minutes left of laptop power... (why didn't I drop the damn power adapter in my purse!!!)
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have a to-do list as long as my arm LISTING all the things I need TO DO (hence the clever origin of the name) to get ready for this trip, and I spent the greater part of the weekend trying to plough my way through it. (Status: 15 down, 4 in process, 6 to go)
Meanwhile, I was also waiting for the latest pictures of the spotted jungle guard kitties which had been promised for Friday evening.
Now I know you will find this hard to believe, but I was distracted by all the things that are much more fun than packing, and also a little obsessed about getting these latest pictures (can you say 'incessant email checking'?). So to keep myself progressing through my ever-growing list, I set goals for myself. Now you would think a grown woman would not have to do things like telling herself 'No you cannot check for spotted baby kitty pictures for the 3000th time this afternoon until you do... um... FOUR things (yes FOUR) from the list.' I even marked them (Anjolie, I know you will get this one). Must be a throw-back to my childhood or something ('No you can't leave the table and watch The Brady Bunch until you eat THREE BITES of liver' (WHO in God's name would make a kid eat liver?? (My mother that's who (love you Mom!)) But that's a post for another time.)
Regardless of the reason, it worked... Until the pictures finally arrived of course:
Yemaya - 5 weeks 
Jakuta - 5 weeks 
Now my to-do list is hanging out there like substitute teacher; the lesson plan is there but I am making up excuses about my sick cousin from Philly... (No offense to any teachers out there, I know what a tough job it is!)
Send help immediately!
photos: Holly Hummel
I am ditching you guys and going to the other side of the planet...
Ok, I am not ditching you (as if I ever could (I can't quit you!)), but I AM going to the other side of the planet...
I have arms full of holes and a to-do list a mile long, but at least I have a weekend to get my S*(% together!!
I'm actually looking forward to 18 hours with no cell phone! Though I think going 18 hours without internet is going to give me a serious case of the shakes... Good thing I have that layover in Amsterdam so I can mainline a little Google...
I'm bringing the good camera with me, so hopefully I'll get some decent shots this time (the one above was taken with my Konica snappy and turned out suprisingly well considering I was in a moving car at the time) and hopefully I'll have some free time to use it and not be falling over from lack of sleep...
And with any luck I won't end up taking a cold shower for 2 days because I'm apparently too STOOOOPID to figure out the plumbing...
Wish me luck!! :D
*'Horn Ok Please!' is a phrase painted on the back end of many vehicles in India which apparently means 'Kindly sound your horn to let me know you're coming up behind me rather than just straight running me off the road like you usually do ^$$hoooles thank you!'
That is the theme of the week...
No matter who I've talked to this week, they've all said the same thing. Life is kicking them in the butt...
And the sheer variety of ways that Life has chosen to kick us all in the collective keister is amazing...
On the upside, I'm sure Life will soon get bored of this game and go do something fun...
I'm right right?? RIGHT??
(Update: before I even finished typing this post the phone rang at our house with MORE lovely butt-kicking (though not serious) news!! Somebody send the WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAmbulance!!)
I met my new mentee last night... It's that time of year...
I am part of a mentoring group that matches young women with (ahem) ancient gnarled wizened SLIGHTLY older women to provide career guidance. What's nice about the program is being able to talk to someone outside your own company... So you can say what you want, and ask questions you REALLY want answers to without worrying that you're somehow sabotaging your career...
Of course I panicked before the meeting, I always do... 'What if it's not a good fit? What if we don't hit it off? But I don't WANT to start over with someone new!!' It's my fifth year in the program and it's always the same...
In then end of course it was wonderful. She was wonderful, and we had a great first meeting...
I'm always amazed to find that I have actually learned a thing or two along the way... It kind of sneaks up on you...
:)
Have you ever noticed that you get a lot of help...
When you don't really need it?
Where were all you people when I needed you???
Funny how one small thing can change your entire outlook...
And make today an entirely different day than yesterday...
Yesterday I was at the bottom of a deep deep well... But even from there I knew it was silly, just an illusion... and that eventually it would pass...
Today... Today I have to start over...
Because everybody's got a plan... And now you know mine...
I realize it LOOKS strange on the security x-ray machine but really...
It's not that interesting... Unless you're a geek-like-me...
It turns out, strangely enough, that I look like I speak Dutch...
I'm not sure WHAT I just agreed to...
:p
So riding in a car in India really IS like being in a video game...
On the plus side, I just found out that I've taken a cold shower two days in a row because apparently I'm too stupid to figure out which direction to turn the shower controls...
(Jet lag, I blame jet lag!!!)
