Three Days till Africa!

Actually it's four days because I'll leave here Wednesday morning, meet Chris and Brenda in Amsterdam, and arrive at the Kilimanjaro airport on Thursday evening. It's hard to be excited at this point because I'm very anxious and a little nervous. Once my bottom hits that first airplane seat, serious excitement will take over. I have to first take a 3-hour flight to Detroit with a 3-hour layover. Then an 8-hour flight to Amsterdam where I'll have another 3-hour layover. Then a 9-hour flight to Killamanjaro where we will be met by our safari tour guide and taken to a hotel, billed as the gateway to the famous Tanzanian ‘Northern Safari Circuit.' Then four days of travel through the Serengeti in our own private Land Rover.  The last day our tour guide will take us straight to Bunda, where Karen, Charles, and John live.

I still have to go to Verizon to decide what travel plan I need. I have an app for texting, so will really just want to access Facebook during the safari so I can post pics. Once we get to Bunda, I'll be able to blog, which will be on July 3rd. However it might not happen till the 4th, so after you've all finished your beer, eaten your hot dogs, and watched fireworks, check back here. 

The next two days will be frantic as I finally pack, make sure I don't go over the 33-lb limit for inside Tanzania, try to cram it all into carry-ons, and take the dogs to their respective caregivers. And then... let the games begin!!!

Ten Days till Africa!

I'm happy to report that week 2 of my exercise regime went well. I only missed yoga on Monday because the gang left early and I just needed a little quiet time (pretty sad excuse). But I went to my three Zumba classes and still love it. The only bad part is that after class I pretty much drive home blind because apparently when I'm really tired, my double vision kicks into high gear. Once I'm home and cool it goes away, but I have the route memorized and it's only 10-15 minutes away, so what's the big deal? And when in doubt, I close one eye and I get oriented again.

Monday I met Kay for lunch in Sugar Land, which is 30 minutes from Katy (maybe that's why I talked myself out of yoga) and ran into one of my wine-drinking neighbors in the restaurant. How weird! Kay had just come back from two weeks in France where her son got married, so I loved hearing all about it.

Yesterday I went with a group from Heritage Grand to Krause House where we did line dancing with the girls. One of the women's granddaughter was there and she did current dancing, which the girls seemed to enjoy way more than our old lady line dancing. But it was good exercise regardless.

The Gang's All Here

Their visits are always short, but much appreciated. Joe and Mary Jane came in Friday afternoon and Rob got here Saturday morning. We went into Houston for lunch at Federal Grill with Kitty, Cathy and Mike, and Jim and Sharon. The rest of the clan was at the Astros game, but we managed to have fun without them. The food was great and the company was better. It's always so much fun to get together with Kitty and cousins whenever they're here. The gang is heading out in the morning, and although our visits are never long, I always love having them here.

Also very good news is that I found a new Zumba class at the Y and went three times this week! So I'm hoping that two days of yoga and three days of Zumba will be my summer routine. I really love the new class (thus far) and even though I'm not great at it, it's actually lots of fun.

It was a great week!

Loving Life!

I really enjoyed my first week with no commitments, but am starting to get bored, so I'll have to find a project or something next week. I also didn't make it to any exercise classes because they were cancelled on Memorial Day and Wednesday I met Kitty, Cathy, Trudy, Chris and Kristin for lunch. I'd picked a place halfway between Cathy and me because it was just supposed to be us, but as happens regularly in that family, if anyone gets wind of lunch, they join in. And it's always fun regardless of who shows up.

Fortunately I'm getting more steps in now because Simon is having balance problems (like mother, like dog) so can only go for a short walk in the mornings. So we all go around the block while he does his business and then I take him home. Glory and I then take a long walk like we used to and I'm actually getting some exercise. Simon has really slowed us down and he doesn't mind going home early, so it's working well. The vet is still trying to figure out the problem, but she thinks it's related to the diabetes. As long as he doesn't walk too far it doesn't seem to be a problem.

And now I'm off to have dinner with a neighbor. We've worked out a super barter deal. I did her taxes for her and now she's going to plant all my new flowers for me in return. I'm elated because I hate to garden and the landscapers can't get to it for a couple of weeks. You know how I love a win-win!