On the upswing…

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Five years ago today, Tom got a kick out of this old Ford “woody” that was on display at the Maui Tropical Plantation. For more photos, please click here.

We had hoped to stay here through Thanksgiving and possibly Christmas to help Camille and Greg while going through chemo. Unfortunately, my severe allergy to cats (and they have one, Morty) has made it impossible for me to be at their home for very long, especially since I got this dreadful “cruise cough,” yet to be resolved.

I’m hopeful today when last night I was able to sleep for about seven hours for the first time since our arrival ten days ago. I awoke five hours after taking Nyquil Cough, planning to stay awake another hour for another dose which can be repeated every six hours.  Miraculously, I fell back to sleep while waiting for the hour to pass.

The cough is a little better today, three days after the initial doses of cortisone and antibiotics, obviously both of which I needed. I’m hoping by the time we leave Minnesota in 10 days, this cough will be gone.

Today for several hours, we have some quiet time. Tom doesn’t have to leave until 3:15 pm to pick up Vincent for this afternoon’s planned activities, including a visit to a pinball place where they’ll most certainly have a good time. 

This afternoon, my long-time dear friend Chere, a highly successful motivational speaker, is stopping by around 3:30 to visit for a few hours. Chere and I have stayed in close touch all these years of world travel. I’m looking forward to seeing her.

With limitations on our time, we won’t have an opportunity to see many of our friends this time. We’re doing the best we can during this short three-week stay.

A short while ago, Tom got a call from his sister Colleen that their sister Betty 
(a nun) had gone into the hospital overnight in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for an unknown reason. Sister Beth had come here last week to see us. Due to my busy schedule, I was disappointed I never had a chance to see her. However, Tom spent time with her.

This morning, Tom called the convent to ascertain which hospital she was in and possibly receive information on her condition. He’s awaiting a callback. Once he hears, he’ll provide the remainder of the family with an update of her condition, based on how much information he can get from the hospital or if she’s able to talk from her.

The remaining ten days here in Minnesota will be busy. Tomorrow, Greg and I will go to lunch at his favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Uptown. On Wednesday, Camille and I go shopping for Christmas gifts for the kids. I’ve agreed to help her wrap packages but bring them back to Karen’s house when I can no longer spend much time near the cat.

Wednesday night, we’re taking Karen and Rich out to dinner at Gianni’s Restaurant in Wayzata, a favorite place from our old life with many romantic memories. This will be their first time dining there, and we can only hope it will be as wonderful as it was years ago.

And it goes on and on with many things planned in the next ten days. On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I’m going to a cardiac check-up at the Minnesota Heart Institute. I’d like to have this out of the way before we head to India. We’re praying for a good result that my progression has been good, and for now, I’m out of the woods. Of course, we’ll report the results here.

Soon, I’ll take off for the market. We need a few items, and it will be fun for me to wander through a US grocery store on my own leisurely.

Please stay healthy and happy as we roll into the holiday season in the USA.

Photo from one year ago today, November 18, 2018:

From left to right around the table:  Kathy, Janet, Steve, Don, Louise, Danie, Leon, Dawn, Uschi, Evan, while Tom and I shared the end of the table. Total in attendance: 12. For more photos, please click here.

Driving for the first time in almost 2½ years…Movie day with three kids…Cinema Grill…Six year ago photo…

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This is my parent’s wedding photo we posted one year ago on this date. Ironically, six years ago today, we booked the hotel with our cruise ending in Boston, with the intent of visiting my father’s gravesite and seeing family. For details of that date, please click here.

Was it almost 2½ years ago that I drove a car? Yes, it was. I drove in Las Vegas in July 2017 when visiting my sister Susan nearly every day, driving for an hour each way to her then home in North Las Vegas. 

Not the best driver on the planet, I never drove again after we left the US, living in countries with left-handed manual transmissions on the opposite side of the road that we’re used to.

On November 1st, she moved a half-hour closer to an assisted living facility, a long overdue and necessary situation for my dear sister’s bedridden condition of chronic pain, inflammation, and a myriad of other inflammatory-based chronic conditions. Genetic makeup, our fate.

When we arrive in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving Day, on November 28th, at about 6:00 pm, we’ll go out to dinner with son Richard to celebrate being together once again and the Thanksgiving holiday at a local Henderson/Green Valley Ranch restaurant, only minutes from his home.

The next day, we’ll visit the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles to apply for our renewal driver’s licenses to get one more necessary task out of the way during this USA visit. The next day, I’ll drive to visit my sister Susan at her new place.

But, today, I finally drove when Camille loaned us her extra SUV they’re trying to sell since she’d recently purchased a newer model. To me, the older model is amiable and modern and has everything I need. 

When we have to return the rental car on November 22nd, Camille suggested we keep using the extra SUV to save money on another rental for our remaining six days. We accepted the generous offer and will do so. 

In the interim, we have two cars which will come in handy over the next five days, as we each attend more separate activities with our respective families. With only 11 days until we depart for Las Vegas, we’ll continue on the whirlwind of activity.

As it turned out, Karen and Rich insisted we join them for chicken dinner tonight at their home. We certainly appreciate the opportunity to have a home-cooked meal after eating out, often twice a day. Plus, we love spending time with the two of them.

This morning Tom joined Tammy, Tracy, and Vincent to do the “Escape Room,” an interactive game through a maze of rooms where participants have to figure out a series of clues and challenges to get through the rooms. Sounds fun. They had a good time.

On his way to the event at the Mall of America, he dropped me off at Camille and Greg’s home since I’d planned to take the kids to the Cinema Grill in New Hope, a suburb of Minneapolis, not too far from their home. The movie theatre has special seating for ordering and eating meals and a decent bar menu. 

The kids ordered their meals, primarily burgers, and fries while I had a salad, and we began watching the adorable movie, Abominable, an adorable animated kids movie. They loved the movie, and not surprisingly, as a movie buff, I enjoyed it too.

The food service was slow and somewhat of a distraction while trying to order and eat but the four of us (me, Maisie, Miles, and Madighan) had a good time nonetheless, relishing our time together.

After the movie, we headed back to their home, and I dropped off the kids, stopping inside to see how Camille was feeling after Thursday’s chemo. She was rallying and feeling considerably better than she had when we stopped in last night on our way out with Tammy and Tracy. Busy. Very busy.

Last night’s constant coughing kept me from sleeping, plus taking Prednisone tends to keep me awake all night, so I had only about three hours of sleep, awakening myself every hour for a coughing jag. The codeine cough medicine didn’t work as well as Nyquil which I’ll return to tonight. 

Right now, sleep will be the best remedy for me to turn the corner on this respiratory distress. No luck yet after two doses of antibiotics and Prednisone. Usually, by day three, results will kick in. Hopefully, this happens tomorrow.

That’s it for today, folks. We’ll be back with the continuation of our hectic schedule. Please hang in there with us.

Have a happy Sunday wherever you may be.

Photo from one year ago today, November 17, 2018:

Big Daddies, sharing pellets and the zebras. For more photos, please click here.

Activity levels continue…Improving yet?…

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From left to right beginning at Jacoby, Tom’s grand-nephew; Vincent, our grandson; Kathy, Tom’s niece, daughter of brother Jerome to her left; then Patty, Tom’s sister at the right end of the table, then Tammy, Tom’s daughter: Tracy, Tammy’s partner; Colleen, Tom’s sister and her husband, Gene. Tom and I were seated and the end of the table and not seen in the photo.

I don’t think we’ve been so busy each day since we began our travels seven years ago. The days are flying by, but we’re experiencing plenty of quality time with our families.

Yesterday afternoon, after posting, we headed to Billy’s Bar in Anoka, Minnesota, where we met up with three of Tom’s sisters, Mary, Patty, and Colleen, and her husband Gene and grandson Jacoby. There was a total of seven of us. 

Happy hour begins at 3:30 PM each Friday at Billy’s, but the family’s weekly visits routine is to arrive early at 3:00 pm to ensure a good place to sit at a large enough table. We complied and arrived at 3:00 pm along with the others.

Frugal as a group, we all waited until the happy hour and sipped on tap water until we finally ordered our drinks. I was the only wine drinker at the table, while the remainder of the group had various types of beer while Jacoby drank soda.

As always, the conversation among any gatherings of Tom’s family members is filled with teasing, laughter, and mostly light entertaining conversation…no politics, religion, or sex but with an occasional smattering of teasing on those particular topics as well. Delightful, to say the least.

We all ordered our dinners inWe all ordered our dinners in a short period, which proved to be quite a good bar menu with tasty freshly prepared meals. As usual, I ordered an equivalent of a grilled chicken chop salad with avocados and vegetables and was content. 

Tom was thrilled to order an authentic Rueben sandwich he hadn’t had in a long while. Those ordered outside the US are not quite the same. We all enjoyed our meals and light banter. By 6:30 pm, we were out the door to follow Mary to see hers and her husband Eugene’s new townhouse (he was gone hunting, typical this time of year in MN). 

They’d recently sold the family home of many years and downsized to the townhouse, which was quite lovely in a handy location of Andover, with easy access to other family members, shopping, and restaurants, all important to retired seniors.

We stayed at Mary’s for an hour or more and later brought Patty back to her home in Blaine, a nearby town, saying goodnight and heading back to Karen’s and Rich’s home.

As has been the case over several evenings since we arrived in Minnesota, we changed into comfy clothes and joined Karen and Rich upstairs for lively chatter. Karen and I have been extremely close for many years, and the conversation among the four of us often becomes introspective and vulnerable. 

The variances in the types of conversations with our family and friends generate an opportunity to explore many avenues of topics all in their way, stimulating and fascinating. Keeping in mind, Tom and I have spent the past seven years together almost exclusively, and conversing with those we love is extra special on many levels.

This morning at 10:00 am, we arrived at Perkins for breakfast with Tammy, Tracy, Vincent, and another 10 of Tom’s family members for a group of 13. Once again, we had a great time, chatting and carrying on. 

I finally had a chance to talk to grandson Vincent, who will be 14 next month, who is now a head taller than quite an intelligent young man and me. Our conversation centered around his schooling and technology, one of my favorite conversations with the grandkids these days who have quite a handle on modern devices and apps. It’s fun to see, although they often have their heads buried in their devices.

After we left from breakfast around noon, we headed back to Eden Prairie to stop at the Medexpress Clinic, only a few minutes from Karen’s house. Since they offered an additional ten days of service at no charge for the same condition, I felt I could use another nebulizer treatment. 

After 24 hours on the cortisone, via an injection and dose of tablets, there hasn’t been any improvement in my pulse oxygenation (pulse ox). The tests still showed I wasn’t able to breathe deeply. I’ve still been coughing and having breathing problems. I met with a different doctor today, and he suggested when I hadn’t improved overnight, to begin a five-day course of Z-Pack (antibiotics). 

I hesitated about taking antibiotics but he made a good case…with my recent open-heart surgery, it as too risky to ignore any possible bacteria which for quite sometime after heart surgery can be very dangerous, i.e. getting dental work or having other procedures and illnesses such as viruses, colds, and flu. 

I may not have pneumonia now but with the severity of my respiratory condition, including asthma symptoms, proceeding with caution was the best course of action.

We drove across the street to Walgreens to fill the prescription for the Z-Pack, a bottle of cough medicine with codeine, and another bottle of Benedryl, a single pill to be taken at bedtime with the cough medicine. This way, I won’t cough and sneeze all night and perhaps get some sleep—no more Nyquil for me.

Right now, as I write this, it’s almost 5:30 pm on Saturday. We’re meeting up with Tammy, Tracy, and Vincent at Park Tavern Restaurant and Bowling alley at 9:00 pm for Cosmic bowling. Tom and I will go early and have dinner, stopping at Greg and Camille’s home for a few minutes on the way to say hi and see how she’s doing after yesterday’s chemo.

It will be another late night, most likely not returning to Karen’s until well after midnight. Tomorrow is yet another busy, action-packed day. Nothing we’re doing is strenuous for me, and the doctor said I could continue to enjoy the festivities but focus on getting better sleep at night. (Tonight, I won’t be bowling instead, watching the others bowl).

We’ll be back with more tomorrow. Please continue to stay with us for only 12 days until we head to warmer sunny Las Vegas, where we’ll spend 11 days visiting with more family, renewing our driver’s licenses, and applying for new four-year passports, as mentioned earlier post. It will be another busy period in our USA visit, just as expected.

Be well. Be happy, and please stop back to say hello.

Photo from one year ago today, November 16, 2019:

Our resident monitor lizard came out of his hovel for a drink from the cement pond. For more photos, please click here.

A long overdue confession…

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Another photo from one year ago today in our garden in Marloth Park. This young bushbuck always stayed very close to her mom, while others we’ve seen will wander off but not too far away. Please click here for more photos.

I don’t even know where to begin. We always promised to be vulnerable and real in our posts, and I’ve failed to be spot on the past few weeks. Today, I’ll share exactly what has transpired and how we’ve dealt with the latest challenge. Although not earth-shattering, it was enough to make us concerned. Here goes:
On day 5 of the transatlantic cruise, I noticed a slight tickle in my throat. It wasn’t precisely a sore throat. It was just a tiny tickle. I didn’t give it much thought. 

The next night, day 6, I felt tired, dizzy, and out of sorts. I went to happy hour with Tom but couldn’t take a sip of my wine. I left and went off to bed in our cabin. Tom brought me grilled chicken breasts and steamed veggies from the cafeteria for dinner while I encouraged him to eat in the dining room and have a good time with other passengers.

I watched three free on-demand movies while picking at my food. My favorite was Godzilla. Go figure.

By 9:30 pm, Tom returned to the cabin for the evening, and after a good night’s sleep, I felt much better the next day, able to dine in the dining room for breakfast and dinner, post a new blog and carry on with our usual fun cruise activities throughout the day. The tickle in my throat continued.

By day 8, I lost my voice and started to cough…a cough from hell, dry, painful, and disgusting to hear. I carried around piles of paper towels and tissues carefully covering my mouth when I had a painful bout of coughing, which was more often than not.

Over the next few days, half of the cruise passengers were hacking. I was not alone. But, the worse part was I could hardly talk. Every time I attempted to say anything, I was propelled into an uncontrollable bout of coughing. It wasn’t easy to be around. It was difficult not to be able to talk when cruising is all about lively conversations.

By the time we reached Minnesota, I felt like I was “coughing up a lung” during each awful session. I started taking Nyquil for coughing at night, and at least I’ve been able to sleep for a few hours each night.

I didn’t want to say anything about this here. After all, our dear readers have spent months reading about my health woes. I didn’t want to burden any of you with more. It was bad enough. Tom has had to put up with me.

Most days, since we arrived in Minnesota a week ago, I’ve spent considerable time at son Greg’s home with Camille and the three kids. On each occasion, I found myself gasping for air. I knew why. I am grossly allergic to cats. And there adorable Morty was unwittingly a source of my breathing distress…asthma exacerbated by exposure to cat dander, a big no-no for me all of my life.

After a dreadful night last night, awake most of the night coughing, I decided it was time to get this dealt with, one way or another. At 9:00 am this morning, we headed a few miles down the road to the MedExpress Care Eden Prairie, MN clinic, a walk-in urgent care center.

Of course, with all the wheezing sounds in my chest, I was concerned about pneumonia or, even worse, congestive heart failure. Any recent cardiac patient would think of such things.

After a short wait, we were whisked inside an exam room, and I had one of the best medical experiences of my life. The professional and proficient care included a chest x-ray, a breathing treatment, an injection of cortisone, and two prescriptions…one for a seven-day course of oral cortisone and another for an asthma inhaler.

I clapped my hands when the doctor came back into the room after the x-ray had been read by a radiologist at the local hospital to discover I didn’t have pneumonia and…the most exciting news…my heart and lungs looked great. Whew! I couldn’t have been more thrilled.

The total bill for all the services, including breathing treatment, doctor visit, x-ray, injection, and two prescriptions (for which they provided coupons), was a total of $189! Not too bad, considering we don’t have any US health insurance.

I walked out the door smiling. Sure, I am very disappointed I have to stay away from Morty, but we’ll plan to do things with the kids, Greg and Camille, away from their house. On Sunday at noon, I am picking them up for dinner and a movie at the Cinema Grill, a movie theatre that offers full meals to eat during the movie. The kids love this.

Yesterday, we booked our flight to Las Vegas, arriving on Thanksgiving evening(November 28). Once we arrive at Richard’s home in Henderson, we’ll all go out for Thanksgiving dinner. This will be pretty fun.

All and all, I am looking forward to feeling better and have learned my lesson about being around cats. Today, we’re headed to a local bar to have happy hour and snacks with Tom’s sisters and their significant others.

Now, I can relax knowing I don’t have some dreadful condition other than the annoyance of coughing every few minutes. Darn “cruise, cough!” The clinic staff was amazing and so supportive. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Gosh, just because we live this life of world travel doesn’t mean we’re exempt in any way from the challenges most people face at one point or another. We’re very grateful we dodged yet another bullet. Life is good.

Happy day, dear readers. And please, take care of yourself!

Photo from one year ago today, November 15, 2019:

A pair of giraffes, each munching on opposite sides of the road. For more photos, please click here.

Challenges of life…Never easy…Often unexpected…

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Last night, we took granddaughter Madighan to her weekly karate class. It was fun watching her and four boys in the same age group, learning the moves presented by Sensei Luiz.

Today, I spent the day at the cancer center at Park Nicollet Frauenshuh Cancer Center at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park with my daughter-in-law Camille. She has stage three colon cancer, of which we were apprised a few months ago.

This heartbreaking news for the mother of three of our grandchildren and wife of son Greg had prompted us to come to Minnesota without an outgoing flight and a level of uncertainty as to how long we’d stay. 

Our original plan was to stay for two weeks, but now we’ve extended it to three weeks based on circumstances and would have stayed longer except for the fact I am grossly allergic to cats which causes severe asthma. Greg and Camille have Morty, an adorable cat.

I am unable to spend more than a few hours at their house each day and thus, we’ve decided we’ll be leaving Minnesota on Thanksgiving Day which is the best time to fly out to avoid the holiday rush on either end.

We feel sad to be leaving early, but have no choice since I am hardly in a position to be having breathing problems at this point, or for that matter, at any point.

When we lived here seven years ago I’d only spend a few hours at their home while visiting. More often, they came to visit us or we did activities out and about. Now with winter fast approaching, snow on the ground, and bitterly cold weather, outdoor activities aren’t practical.

We’re spending as much time as possible with the grandkids and their parents, enjoying everything we’re doing together. Often times, Tom and I are separated, spending time with our respective families.

As for dear Camille, she is doing as well as anyone could under these dreadful circumstances. Her strength and attitude is exceptional, not surprisingly, and we have all the hope and anticipation she will recover from this frightening disease.

Her family and friends have lovingly and helpfully rallied around her and she is in good hands with lots of love, support, and prayers. I hadn’t mentioned this in a prior post since I wanted to ensure she was comfortable with my doing so.

Today, while we spent several hours in the private chemo suite, we had a good chance to talk and she agreed that my writing about her condition would be fine, especially since she’d posted a few comments on Facebook with periodic updates for her family and friends to see.

There are no words, anyone can say to a cancer patient or their family to ease the worry and concern during this painful and difficult process. Having been faced with my own mortality this past year, made us both all the more compassionate and understanding of the emotional upheaval of dealing with a potentially life-threatening condition.  

Although we have to leave Minnesota, we’ll be in close touch with Camille’s progress and continue to pray for a positive outcome. She has a long way to go with her many upcoming treatments and eventual surgery, but our thoughts will always be with her.

At the moment, I am sitting in a Perkins Restaurant working on today’s post. At 4:45 pm, son Greg will pick me up to attend the bake sale at the kid’s school for which we’d made tons of Rocky Road Bars we placed in pretty holiday tins for tonight’s event. 

It was quite a job, putting together all those containers with over 200 bars, but it’s for a good cause for the Agamim Charter School fundraiser. We all got involved in the process and ultimately I made it through the hours of baking and standing on my feet. My only issue was the difficulty in breathing due to the cat.

Baking for hours was something I hadn’t done since last Thanksgiving when I made eight pumpkin pies in the 102F (40C) heat and humidity in Marloth Park when I classified my day as a “Pumpkin Pie Hell.” See the link here.

The awful heat had a huge impact on the made-from-scratch dough, almost impossible to roll in the awful weather but somehow I made it through the day. The pies didn’t look as good as they tasted, so said our holiday dinner guests!

We would have loved to stay in Minnesota for Thanksgiving dinner, but there were limited non-stop flights available and that particular day offered the best options. We’ll arrive in Henderson, Nevada in the early evening and possibly go out for dinner thereafter.

That’s it for today, folks! Tomorrow’s another day.

Be well.

                                        Photo from one year ago today, November 14, 2018:
This morning, Tom stood next to Ms. Bushbuck to prevent kudus from stealing her share of pellets. For more photos, please click here.

How does it feel being back in Minnesota?…

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Today, it’s snowing in Minneapolis and the suburbs, and the roads are slippery.

Many have asked, “How does it feel to be back home?”

The answer to this question is entangled with many emotions. We had a good life here in Minnesota. Tom was born in Minneapolis, and I’d come to the state back in 1969 when my two sons were two years and an infant.

But, like all families, we each had our struggles, disappointments and tough times interspersed with the happy memories and milestones of our lives and the lives of our children, other family members, and friends.

Now, after being away for seven years, it feels very different and here. Today, I can only speak for myself. Tom can only decide for himself at this point, for which he isn’t entirely sure.

It’s not the same, for sure. Years ago, when on occasion I traveled for business or pleasure, as the plane flew over the city, especially at night, I had a powerful sense of, “This is my happy place. This is my home.”

I didn’t feel a moment of nostalgia or reminiscence when we flew over the city and suburbs on Friday night, other than the joyful anticipation of seeing our family members. It was simply another big city we were flying over at night, some of which elicit enthusiasm and excitement and others, very little emotion at all.

When we’ve arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, on our way to Marloth Park, I didn’t feel a speck of joy. But, when we’d flown into the small facility, Mpumulanga/Nelspruit/Kruger Airport, my heart was pounding in my chest with sheer fun and excitement. It’s all relative. That’s the way life is. That’s the way our life is.

And soon, when we fly into Mumbai, India is a mere 50 days, my heart will be aflutter with hope and expectations for two months of a purely profound cultural experience with a smidgen of wildlife tossed in the mix. (We’re booking several days on tiger safaris).

But is Minnesota still our home? If not, then where is the home of these two nomads who wander the earth, now seven years in the making? It’s right here. It’s there. It’s everywhere.

The adage, “Home is where the heart is,” however corny that may sound, is with a doubt a truism. For us, wherever we may be at any given moment is “home,” and in our peculiar way, we call it so over and over again. 

When we say after a long day of sightseeing or visiting with friends, “Shall we head for “home,” honey?” “Do you feel like heading home?” We know what we mean, and thus, the definition for us in this extraordinary life we lead is “home is down the road to that place where we lay our heads, cook our meals and find comfort in the activities of our daily lives and each other.”

It’s cold here now, mainly in the low 20’s (-6.6C), and this morning sleet and snow are falling in thin sheets, leaving frosty trees, slippery roads, and walkways. I’ve yet to drive the rental car and suspect I may never in our remaining weeks in Minnesota.

We’ve decided we’ll stay through Thanksgiving, then fly to Apache Junction, Arizona, to our awaiting holiday home, unpack our belongings and then proceed to Nevada for a visit returning to Arizona a week or ten days later. We’ll only take a small amount of luggage to Nevada, and for the first time in a while, we’ll be traveling light. Of course, posts will continue along the way.

Today, we wrapped up the paperwork and got it in the mail for our required visa for India. It’s a complicated process that weighs heavily on our minds. Now we can relax knowing the paperwork is in the mail. We’ll receive the visa via email in several weeks.

Next, we need to process our “second passports,” which enable us to apply for visas requiring we mail in our original passports to apply for tickets. This prevents us from being in a foreign country without a valid passport in our possession.

Tonight, we’re taking three grandchildren out to dinner after watching granddaughter Madighan at her karate class. 

A special thanks to our loyal readers for reading our posts during this quiet time in our world travels. We appreciate every one of YOU!

We’ll be back tomorrow with more, however quiet, however mundane, and however uneventful it may be.

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, November 13, 2018:
This is my boy “Little.”  He visits almost daily.  He’d just returned from eating from the bale of hay left in the neighbor’s driveway when they departed after the weekend. That’s why he has grass all over his snout. He likes to cool off in the cement pond, sleep under the shade of a tree in our garden and climb the veranda steps seeking pellets. What a guy! For more photos, please click here.

Busy days, busy nights…Life in the USA…

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My cioppino (fish stew) at Stella’s Fish House was delicious.

Our days and nights couldn’t be busier consisting of one event after another. Today, my dear daughter-in-law Camille and I shopped at Cub Foods, Target and the dollar store in preparation for making a fabulous rocky road bar recipe (from my baking days, long past).


The goal was to make as many as we could with the ingredients we purchased for an upcoming bake sale event at the three grandchildren’s charter school in Edina which we visited on Monday for a special Veteran’s Day celebration.


Maisie, our granddaughter is on the school council and each of the council members planned to participate in the bake sale.  Maisie was excited Grandma was here to help bake something special for the event occurring on Thursday evening. I was “all-in” of course, never wanting to disappoint our precious grandchildren.


Camille and I shopped this morning and my eyes were like saucers at the abundance of “stuff” on sale in the three stores we visited, particularly Cub Foods, a massive supermarket, containing literally everything a person could dream of buying at a grocery store. I was on information overload.


It had been over two years since we’ve visited the US and as expected, walking into a spacious store of any type makes our heads spin in sheer delight over the vast options, more than we’d ever imagined.


Back at hers and Greg’s homes, we hustled to get the bar’s ingredients mixed together to get them into the oven before Tom planned to pick me up by 5:00 pm.


We told our kids and our thoughtful host not to worry about meals for us. We’d figure them out on our own. Plus, I didn’t feel up to standing in the kitchen cooking big meals for hours since in any case, it’s in my nature to help out.


But, busy all of these hours made me realize I still wasn’t quite “up to snuff” and didn’t possess the stamina and strength to perform lots of tasks to help anyone out with their day-to-day lives.


This was the first time in nine months I’ve had busy full days and I could easily feel the strain on my still recovering body. I’d overestimated what I was capable of doing and in my typical style I jumped in with both feet pushing myself as hard as I can with some consequence.


Going forward, I will take it a little easier, reducing what I expect of myself to a more manageable level. No one in our family is expecting me to push myself. It’s all on me.


Tomorrow will be a little more low key. Tom and I will hang around at Karen’s home during the day while we work on our visas, two-year passports, and logging receipts. In the afternoon, we’ll head back to Camille and Greg’s home so I can cut up the bars and arrange them in the pretty containers we purchased to use to sell the bars at the bake sale. 

Afterward, we’ll take the three kids out to dinner at their favorite local restaurant, Bunny’s, returning them home after dinner.

My sister Julie has flown back to Los Angeles. It was wonderful to see her and in the next month, I’ll see my other sister Susan in Las Vegas, Nevada along with son Richard in Henderson. Busy times. Good times. Memorable times.


Back at you soon!

___________________________________________

Photo from one year ago today, November 12, 2018:
The convoluted photo is difficult to decipher at first.  Note the one kudu attempting to eat the seeds in the birdfeeder which she eventually accomplished. For more photos, please click here.

Fun times dining with family…Cold, cold, cold…Veteran’s Day event…

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Out to dinner at Stella’s Fish House, charming granddaughter Maisie sat next to me.
Introspective grandson Miles wasn’t interested in fish and had a burger instead.
Always-smiling Madighan loved being with her family and eating seafood along with a taste of Grandpa’s barbeque ribs (who, like Miles, didn’t eat fish). 

We knew it would be cold in Minnesota, even as early as November, but we had no idea it would be as cold as today. As of this moment, close to 2:00 pm, the temperature is 15F, -9.44C. That’s cold. 

Considering today’s windchill is bitter cold -1F, -18C, walking outside is downright uncomfortable. For the locals, this is normal. We remember living here seven years ago.

This bitter cold weather takes our breath away with a cold grasp that sucks our lungs dry. Yesterday, a light covering of snow fell, which melted a short time later. Upcoming on Wednesday, the snowfall could be substantial enough to cause congestion and accidents on the roads. I’ve yet to drive a car.

I wasn’t a good driver in the best of conditions, and I doubt I’d be any good in this slippery weather. We’re doing everything we can to avoid the necessity of me driving either the rental car or the SUV offered by Greg and Camille (son and DIL). 

We’ll see how that goes since it seems we’re always on the move and often finding we need to split up on several occasions to spend time with our respective families. That’s how it goes with “blended families.” Very few situations allow for the two separate families to get together.

Our grandchildren are delightful and the parents happy to see us at long last. We feel bad about being away for so long, but my health issues of this past year kept us away for an additional seven months, over and above the time we’d initially planned to be here.

The price we paid for the unavoidable delay has been cold weather which will only worsen during our remaining time here, depending upon when we decide to leave Minnesota to head to Nevada to see son Richard in Henderson and sister Susan in North Las Vegas.

How’s it going here? Very well. Thus far, we’ve been swamped, more than we ever have while traveling since my surgery in February. It’s beautiful to spend time with the family, and I look forward to plans together over the next few weeks.

I’m working hard to keep up with everyone and all the planned events. Previously, we had many more hours a day to lounge and lay low.  Now, it’s a relatively consistent activity level, and I’m striving to stay in tune with everyone else.

At night, after a long day and evening, we wind up back at Karen’s gorgeous home to relax and spend more time catching up. Over these years, Karen and I have stayed in fairly close touch, and now our conversations are similar to those wonderful chats we had together, day after day, for many years. 

Tom and Karen’s significant other, Rich, get along well. They watched the winning Minnesota Vikings game late last night while I wandered off to bed for much-needed rest. It’s all going quite well.

This morning at Maisie, Miles and Madigan’s charter school, Agamim Academy, a school devoted to educating eager students about US history, the Constitution, and the American way, we attended a beautiful presentation for Veteran’s Day commemorating many veterans in attendance and recognition of service provided by our armed forces.

It couldn’t have been a more inspiring presentation. Seeing the smiling faces of our three grandchildren and all the other almost 400 students, so proud of their school and country, was inspiring in itself.

At the moment, we’re back at Karen’s, working on today’s post and reviewing the prep necessary to apply for our visas for India, which we’ll need in a little over 60 days. 

That is quite an undertaking, as we heard it would be. We’ll be using the services of a visa company to assist. Also, we’re applying for other passports…for two years. Our current tickets don’t expire until 2021. We’ll explain more about this later.

Tonight, Tom has plans with grandson Vincent and daughter Tammy while I am going back to Greg and Camille’s home to spend the evening with sister Julie (she leaves tomorrow to return to LA), Camille, and the kids while Greg is out on business.

We are happy to be here with family and muster our way through the bitter cold weather and the busy family activities.

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, November 11, 2018:
“Little” came back for more pellets on the veranda. He feels quite at home here. Who knew pigs climb stairs? For more details, please click here.

Delta, the demon, day from hell…Finally, we’ve arrived…New phones…

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This morning’s view from the backyard of Karen’s home in Eden Prairie, where we’ll be staying while here in Minnesota.

With the best intentions, I’d planned to post this yesterday. But, once we arrived at son Greg’s house and the fun activity began, I had no time whatsoever to wrap it up and upload the post.

Also, Tom’s new Google phone had arrived, and I had to spend no less than two hours setting it up. I am usually adept at this, but the process wasn’t as clear-cut as it could have been, and I spent at least an hour on the phone with tech support, finally getting everything resolved.
This issue centered around the fact that we’d purchased two Google phones and mine had yet to arrive (it arrived at Karen’s home last yesterday), making it difficult to set up a joint account for pay as you go phone and data with only one of the phones in our possession.

We are ridding ourselves of our Skype phone number and will use Whatsapp, Skype, or Facebook Messenger for future out-of-the-country calls. Our new phones have reasonable international call rates (as a global phone), but there’s no point in paying when no cost options are available via the web.

We’ll never have to repurchase a SIM card when these global phones work anywhere. Today, I’ll finish setting mine up, and we’ll be good to go. Ironically, Tom forgot to bring his with him when he left to see his family this morning. Ha! I guess now. We’ll become more phone conscientious with these new devices.

On to our trip from the pier in Fort Lauderdale to Minneapolis:

Without a doubt, we are always grateful to any airline for getting us safely to our location. I wish we were tolerant enough to feel that was enough. A certain semblance of organization and flow is also required to provide anything beyond a one-star rating.

Delta Airlines, masterful advertisers, appealing to all of our senses, evidenced at Fort Lauderdale, Detroit, and Minneapolis airports with the most pleasing graphics posters at every turn, leave a traveler with high expectations.

We were sorely disappointed. Both flights were seriously late with few updates offering their passengers little comfort and remained in a perpetual state of confusion. Let’s face it, we’re fairly savvy travelers, and yet we were constantly scratching our heads, wondering what was next.

As it turned out, an expected arrival time in Minneapolis was at 6:30 pm when in fact, we didn’t arrive until almost 8:30 pm, not the worst delay but indeed the most confusing. 

With the necessity of picking up the rental car and a horrendous walk to the car rental area, we weren’t on our way to Karen’s home until well after 9:00 pm. We’d been on the move for 14 hours since we disembarked the ship in Fort Lauderdale when we arrived at Karen’s home.

Surprisingly, to both of us, we felt relieved and energized, ending up enjoying the remainder of the evening with Karen and Rich, in their comfy living room, in their gorgeous home, sipping on wine, and catching up.

With Tom off to spend part of the day with his family and the evening with mine watching the Minnesota Vikings game, it will be another good family day for both of us.

This morning, son Greg is picking me up to attend a brunch at a restaurant with Camille, his wife, my three grandkids, and other family members and friends. She has been going through a complex medical crisis, and we are all here to love and support her.

My younger sister Julie is also visiting from California, so it’s all special to be together once again. It has been two years and three months since we were here.

We’ll continue to post each day during our two-plus months in the USA. Photos may not be prevalent during this period, but we’ll do our best. I have several for tomorrow’s post. Please check back.

Photo from one year ago today, November 10, 2018:

Wildebeest Willie looks into my eyes when I talk to him in a goofy high pitched voice. In this photo, he was sharing pellets with impalas. For more photos, please click here.

Final cruise expenses including cruise bill…A few favorite photos…We’re off to Minnesota!…

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The colorful video presentation of Le Petit Chef dinner in Qsine was delightful and truly memorable.

Here are the expenses for our 15-night cruise from Southampton, England, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida:

Expense US Dollar
Cruise Fare  $ 3,814.30
Airfare – none – drove to
Southampton		  $    –  
Hotel 2 ngts-
Southampton-with discount		  $   187.06
Taxi   $     22.00
Cabin Credit  $ (400.00)
Wi-Fi on ship (inc in fare)  $    –  
Gratuities (inc in fare)  $    –  
Cruise bill for
purchases 		  $   664.59
Total  $ 4,287.95
Avg Daily
Cost – 15 nights
We’re currently situated in comfy chairs at Fort Lauderdale Airport, awaiting our flight to Minneapolis via Detroit with a long layover. It appears our outbound flight is delayed on Delta Airlines (not unusual), but luckily our long layover in Detroit won’t cause any time constraints for the next leg of the flight.

Yesterday, we’d prepaid the baggage fee of $140 to avoid delays at the airport. With curbside check-in available, getting boarding passes and checking our bags was seamless, and we were whisked through immigration and security without incident.

When going through security, I asked if I could be frisked instead of going through that invasive x-ray machine, explaining I have trouble (which I do), raising my arms over my head since the surgery. No problem. They complied with my request and tested my fingers for explosive materials.
The display left us totally in awe over not only the visuals but also the fine food.
We found electric plug-ins at the chairs at our gate, and with the flight delayed, we’ll be waiting here for over two hours to board the flight. It will be easy to entertain ourselves while we’re able to be online and plugged in. 

It will be a good time for me to enter the cruise expenses on our spreadsheet, so by the time we reach Minnesota, I’ll be free to start accumulating USA-related costs as they occur.

Disembarkation from the ship was slick with no delays whatsoever. The level of organization was spot-on, and the lines of over 2200 passengers flowed with ease. 

It was less than 25 minutes from when we left the ship until we reached the taxi stand and waited for a taxi no more than five minutes. With our three 50 pound bags and three carry-on bags, we engaged the services of a porter from the baggage pickup area to the taxi stand. 
Tom never wiped the smile off his face, nor did I. We had a fantastic cruise.
It’s simply too much for us to haul entirely on our own, especially since I’m of little help in carrying anything at this point. Then again, Tom always was the “pack mule,” as he calls himself, and has handled the bags since the onset of our travels.
Sure, we wish we had less stuff, but we’ve whittled it down as far as we can, considering the varying seasonal clothing we need from location to location throughout the world.  Many have suggested we buy what we need as we go, leaving it behind when we leave.  Ultimately, that would require too much time shopping and looking to find what we need which is seldom avail considering many of the countries we prefer to visit.  

I couldn’t find a single pair of comfy pajamas in South Africa without driving for five hours. After the surgery, I borrowed pj’s from our friend Lynne who so kindly provided me with exactly what I needed. 

We had a fabulous night in Murano Specialty Restaurant, celebrating our seventh anniversary of world travel aboard the ship.
Thus, we have what we have, and although we’ll replace several items in the US during this visit, we don’t need much. Moreso, we need new laptops and phones are our top priority.

Speaking of phones, this morning, we accidentally left behind Tom’s old phone on the desk in the cabin. He thought I grabbed it, and I thought he did. This was unusual for us. We rarely forget anything. 

His new google phone is awaiting him at friend Karen’s home now, and my new phone will arrive in about three days. We’ll be fine in the interim. In the next few days, we’ll contact Celebrity and have them mail the phone to our mailing service in Nevada so we can dispose of it properly.

Once we arrive in Minneapolis, we’ll stop at a market for a few items to bring to Karen’s house, mainly food for breakfasts and beverages. It will be wonderful to see her and her significant other and stay at their lovely home.

We’ll be back tomorrow with photos and more!

May your day be pleasant!
Photo from one year ago today, November 8, 2018:
We encountered this stunning scene of zebras and wildebeest from the fence at Marloth Park. One reason zebras and wildebeests hang out is that they love to eat the taller grass and wildebeest the shorter grass – it’s a type of symbiosis. There is no competition regarding food. Also, wildebeests have a better sense of hearing, while zebras can see very well. It’s always great to have an ally to warn of any impending danger. Another reason is zebras and wildebeest prefer to be in the open savannahs…the concept of safety in numbers comes into play. For more, please click here.