Tea for Three

My friends and I love to go to tea rooms and enjoy a leisurely lunch over laughter, tea, and good food.  This past week, two good friends whisked me away to a new tea room in our area called The Old Farm House.  One friend had stumbled across it when she was out driving around the countryside and she had decided that we needed to try their brunch tea.

We've been to quite a few tea rooms together and I'm always amazed how each one manages to be different and unique.  This one started with some fruit juice and fruit cocktail in a lovely cut glass bowl.

Next we got to pick two different teas.  Since I was the "honored guest", I got to choose.  I picked "Apple and Cinnamon" tea and "Peachy Peach" tea.  This has been the first tea room where they served the tea in glass carafes that were placed on top of a stand with a heating candle beneath it.  I found that this was a great way to serve the tea because the tea stayed hot throughout our entire meal.  Usually at such places, you'll get your tea in a teapot that has a cozy placed over it but the tea tends to go lukewarm quickly.

Our second course were two types of tea breads and then some scones with clotted cream.  Then the third course came.  It was a quiche, a lovely little salad with a dressing on it that was absolutely delicious, and some fried potatoes.  Oh, my....those fried potatoes were fried to perfection.  Usually I have to drown my potatoes in butter but I didn't put any butter on these.  They were crisp and seasoned just right.  The quiche was fine but what really made it extra good was the crust.  That crust just melted in your mouth.

Then it was time to choose our dessert.  My friend, Jamie chose the custard coconut pie.  She said that it was excellent.

For me, it was a no-brainer.  As soon as the proprietor said "chocolate cake with peanut butter icing", I knew what my choice would be.  I've never been able to resist peanut butter icing.  It was quite good.

As an extra bonus, there are all sorts of gifts and little antiques scattered about the old farmhouse that are for sale.  We had fun just doing a little browsing before and after our lunch.  There is also an antique shop right next door to the tea room that is also owned by the same folks.  If the prices are as reasonable as the tea room prices, then I'll definitely have to check out the antiques on my next visit.  And speaking of reasonable, the price for a light tea is $8, a high tea is $12, the tea brunch (which we had) is $12, and a Tea meal (which is a full meal) is $16.  You sure can't beat that.

The Old Farm House is open Wednesday through Friday 11 to 2 and Saturday and Sunday 10:30 to 5.  They are located at 7027 Lincoln Hwy West, Thomasville, PA.  If you're going to be out and about in York County, Pennsylvania and want to enjoy a nice tea brunch, give them a call at 717-225-0451.  Just as a caveat, I'm in no way associated with them.  I'm just a satisfied diner.  I know that my friends and I are already making plans to return.

Inside Winter's Snowglobe

We had another winter storm yesterday and it came in two parts.  The first part deposited a few inches during the first half of the day and the second part came in around the evening rush hour and continued until around 10 p.m.  It was a gentle, wet snow that covered the tree branches with a lacy network of flakes, making the trees look like they'd been sprayed with some of that fake "flocking" stuff that people sometimes spray on Christmas trees.  It reminded me of that scene from "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" when the children first step out of the wardrobe into Narnia and into a snowy landscape. However, no Mr. Tumnus stepped out to greet me.

The Commander and I had been downstairs watching a show on TV but when we came up and peeked out the window, it was so lovely that I knew I had to come out and take some pictures.

It was a magical time.  Most of the neighbors were either in bed or getting ready for bed since it was 11 p.m. but there were still a few lights on in front yards and in the homes in our neighborhood.  The snow had stopped falling and it was very still outside.  I couldn't hear a single car or dog or snowplow disturbing the peace.

The Commander had planned to do a quick pass with the snowblower but when he looked around and noticed that no one else was out clearing their driveways or sidewalks, he decided that he'd not be the one to disturb the peace of the moment.  He'd just wait until the morning.

Alas, when the morning dawned, the neighborhood still looked pretty but it no longer had that magical quality about it.  I felt a bit like the Pevensie children when they had to go back through the wardrobe and return to England.  I can't help but hope that this winter will hold another magical moment or two before it releases its grip and Spring comes knocking.

Terrors in the Grocery Store

I was almost run down by a grocery cart in the grocery store today.  It was being steered by a 7-year-old girl who was running up and down the aisles with it, followed by her brother who appeared to be about 5 years old.  Their father was following them, making no attempt to get them under control as they careened from side to side, laughing wildly.  I guess he was shopping because he'd throw items into the cart as it would whiz past.  Maybe it was a new form of speed shopping that I wasn't yet familiar with.   These kiddos were spreading mayhem from one end of the store to the other.  You could follow their progress by listening for the shrieks and watching to see where the crowds were parting - quickly.

I caught up with them again as I was checking out in the "magic check-out section."  It's not really called that except by me but it's where you go if you've used the little scanners to scan your items and bag your own groceries as you've gone through the store.  When you finish up, you just scan a final barcode at the register, then all your items magically appear on the screen, the total shows up and you pay.  Your groceries are already in bags in your cart so the whole process is quick.  As I pulled up to my register, the two children were "collecting" all the scanners that had been left by previous shoppers from all the other registers and running around playing with them.  Of course the father was paying no attention to this.  Finally, the grocery clerk in charge of that section came over to them and took the scanners away.

After they left the area, the clerk came over to me and said, "Oh my but those children were wild."

"You can say that again," I agreed.

"I find myself wondering about their mother," she said.

"Well, I can certainly see why their mother might not want to go grocery shopping with them, " I replied.  "She's probably at home in bed with the covers pulled over her head hoping that they'll forget their home address."

OK, maybe I shouldn't have said that.  It probably wasn't very nice.  And lest you think that I don't like children, let me put a disclaimer here.  I DO like children as long as they are cute, cuddly, and quiet.  If they're loud and misbehaving, I still like them if they're related.  But I really have to struggle to come up with any warm feelings for kids that are brats or bullies and have no family ties to myself.  That's why God, in His infinite wisdom, occasionally puts kids like that into my path when I'm not behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.  He forces me to confront my prejudices.

I saw the man and his children one last time as I headed out to my car.  I could hear them coming before they came into view and then there they were, struggling for possession of the loaded cart while the father tried to grab their hands in the busy parking lot.   I wondered what their situation was.  Why was the father doing the shopping?  Was he a single father?  A widower?  Was he even the father or was he a boyfriend trying to help out while the mother worked?  Did he have anyone at all to give him tips on managing two rambunctious kids?


It's hard to be judgmental and empathetic, too.  When you start to try to understand another person's situation, you begin the journey of seeing that person through God's eyes.  I prayed for that man as I pulled out of the parking lot and started for home.  I prayed that God would give him an extra measure of grace today and wisdom as he dealt with the children in his care and I prayed that those kids would find someone who could gently bring some balance and structure into their lives while still nurturing their creativity.  And since I'm no saint, I'll admit that I also hoped that I wouldn't run into them again anytime soon.

Hanging on to Christmas

It was a strange Christmas this year with me on one side of the world with part of my family and the Commander and the rest of my family back on the other side of the world.  I wasn't even around to put up any Christmas decorations.  So I can't really be faulted for wanting to enjoy the few decorations that my hubby put up in my absence just a little bit longer, right?

OK, it DID strike me as I went out today to get the mail out of the mailbox that maybe our house is more the exception than the rule here in our neighborhood.  I didn't really notice any others nearby that still had Christmas trees in the front yard and one in the window.  But I think it gives things a rather festive air, don't you?

The Commander even put the front yard decorations on a timer this year and it's nice to come out into the living room at dusk and see the little trees lit up when I look out the window.  We're still getting snow so it's not like they're crowding out the tulips and crocuses.

The indoor Christmas tree is small and takes up hardly any space at all.  I like to snuggle up on the couch with the dog, turn on the gas fireplace and then ponder a spell while I enjoy my little tree.  I'll probably have to take it down soon though, because I'm hosting a women's luncheon next week and I'll need the space to fit all the women in the room.

So I'm just going to indulge myself one more week while I hang onto Christmas a bit longer.  I'll finish up the Christmas newsletter, too, drink a cup of seasonally-flavored coffee, and play some carols on the piano.  I'll get a little maudlin thinking of Christmases that have come and gone and then it will be time to start dreaming of Spring.

The Family Dispatcher

Now that I'm back from Indonesia, I miss myself.  OK, that probably sounds a little strange.  Let me explain.  What I really miss are my posts on the family "doings" from overseas.  I can no longer be the eyes and ears for our extended family scattered about. I'm only able to report on what is happening here at home.  Not many of the relatives are waiting with bated breath to hear about that.  No one is sitting by their computer hoping to see a new picture pop up of me.  Let's be honest here.  They're all wanting to see what's happening with the kids and the grandchild.

When I was in Indonesia, I had the luxury of time and plenty of opportunity to snap pictures of our little granddaughter AND all the interesting sights in the areas where our grown kids were living.  I knew that the relatives back home were hungering to hear what was going on and to see pictures of them, especially little Mika and I really tried to blog frequently (ok, every day) so that they'd feel "in the loop." 

Now that I'm home, we are back to the status quo.  We get a Skype call usually once a week and we check Facebook daily to see if any of them have posted ANY comment to anyone just so we can feel like we've made contact.  We might get several short emails a week.  Pictures are scarce.  Our overseas kids are super busy with language training and a demanding toddler.  They use a sluggish Internet when they can.  I get it. 

It's plain to me that what we need here is a clone of myself.  We could call it the "Family Dispatcher."  We could ship the cloned me along with a computer with wireless connectivity wherever in the world our extended family members are and set me loose, whereupon I'd immediately begin firing off dispatches from the field. 

Of course, there would be a few other specifications that the cloned me would require.  The "Family Dispatcher" would need to be impervious to bug bites, dysentery, diarrhea, and food poisoning.   It would need to require little sleep but still be able to remain keenly observant and be flexible enough to use a squatty potty while having the ability to retain some semblance of dignity.

If all of this seems like too tall an order, than only one thing remains to be done.  I'll just have to join the rest of the relatives and beg for some news, then pray for the day when I can once again see firsthand what is happening with the kids.

Time Traveling to Music

I was driving home from the grocery store this afternoon and a song came on the radio that got me all choked up.  In less than a minute, I found myself back in 1980, a young mother looking at my daughter in her crib and crying with the knowledge that all too soon, she would be grown up and heading off on her own.  That got me to thinking about how thoroughly music has permeated my life, intertwining through significant milestones down through the years.

It's 1957 and I'm huddled around the record player with my brother, listening to Mary Martin sing "I've Gotta Crow" from the Broadway musical Peter Pan.  I knew the lyrics of every song she sang in that musical and I would entertain myself for hours flitting about the house, pretending to be Peter.


It's 1963 and I'm clutching my fan magazine with the latest picture of the Beatles as "I Want to Hold Your Hand" plays on my portable record player.  My first mad crush was on George Harrison.

"Love Child" by Diana Ross and the Supremes is playing at a theatre party at Central Michigan University in 1968.  I'm sitting next to the football team's punt return specialist who seems to be interested in me.  This so unnerves me that I end up dropping a theatre class that we're both in because I don't know how to respond to his attention - being as shy as I am.  I still can't hear "Love Child" without being back at that party stealing glances at him.

It's 1970 and 3 Dog Night is singing "Mama Told Me Not to Go" at another theatre party.  A theatre major who has already graduated is in town and has stopped by the party.  He asks me to dance and as we're on the dance floor, he looks at me in amazement and says, "Is this the same shy, quiet girl I first met 2 years ago?"

Another theatre party and another song, "Try to Remember" from the musical "The Fantasticks" has me singing along in harmony and making moon eyes at a fellow theatre major that I have a crush on who ends up taking me to my first formal dance.  This same fellow goes on to become a professor in the theatre department at our college years later.

1973 finds me at Ft. Benjamin Harrison attending Broadcasting School for the Army.  I fall in love with a sailor who introduces me to the music of Steely Dan.  We spend a lot of time listening to "Reelin' in the Years."

It's 1976 and I'm riding in a car somewhere in North Carolina with a young man that I thought I would end up marrying.  The Doobie Brothers are singing "Black Water" and I'm singing along, trying to block out the growing realization that our relationship is on its last leg.  Nothing like a good song to distract a girl.

It's 1978 and the Commander and I are driving around the Greek countryside listening to James Taylor sing "How Sweet it Is" which becomes "our" song as we are dating and which is STILL our song after over 30 years of marriage.

It's 1980 and our daughter has just been born.  On the way home from the hospital, the Commander turns on the radio and hears Stevie Wonder singing "Isn't She Lovely."  He tells me about this the next day at the hospital and we refer to it as "Laura's song" from that day on.

Which leads me full circle to today.  It's 2011 and Darius Rucker is singing "It Won't Be Long."  I'm sniffling and thinking of my granddaughter, Mika and how quickly she'll grow up.  I'm thinking that I should email my son and tell him to go up on the Internet and find the song so he can listen to it and get some warning of how these things work....how quickly time will pass.  And I'm thinking of my daughter lying in her crib thirty years ago.

Mystery Readers - This One's For You!

Kindle Reading in Indonesia

Several weeks before I left on my trip to Indonesia, I spent a lot of time choosing books to load onto my Kindle.  I read book reviews, surfed lists on Amazon and read reader reviews on books that looked promising, and revisited favorite authors' books.  I pulled out a file that I keep full of pages torn from magazines and newspapers that mention books that I think I might want to read and went back up to Amazon and started reading the synopsis of these titles and again, what the readers thought of these books.  When I'd find books that sounded like a good match for my tastes that were available for the Kindle, I'd purchase them and download them to my e-reader.  One thing that I did NOT want to do was to run out of things to read during the five weeks that I was going to be overseas.

The results were mixed.  Some of the books I chose turned out to be "so-so."  Thankfully, those were in the minority.  Most of the ones I had loaded were entertaining and certainly helped me pass the hours after my son and his family would go to bed around 6:30 at night each evening.  There was one author in particular that I was delighted to discover.  Now when I say "discover", I don't mean that I personally discovered this author.  I mean that he was new to me as a reader.  Isn't that a reader's great delight....stumbling upon an author that you really enjoy?

If you enjoy reading mysteries, let me introduce you to the work of J. Michael Orenduff.  Mr. Orenduff has written three books so far (and I can't wait for him to release his fourth, which I see is due out in March).  They are:  The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras, The Pot Thief Who Studied Ptolemy, and The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein.  The main character in these mysteries is Hubie Schuze, a dealer in Native American pottery who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Hubie is a bit of a rascal, who tends to bend the rules and the letter of the law when it suits him, but he's a decent enough chap who has a knack for stumbling into mysteries and then solving them.  He also is laugh-out-loud witty (think combination Ricky Gervais and William Powell in "The Thin Man"), a connoisseur of Southwestern food, and someone that I, for one, would love to have as a best friend.

My daughter-in-law spent her early childhood in Mexico and developed quite a taste for Mexican food.  I, too, love Mexican cuisine.  As I read The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras, I could have almost committed a crime myself for a good cheese enchilada.  Hubie's description of his meals is mouthwatering.  If you're not hungry when you start reading, you will be when you put the book down.  I told Laura, "You have to read these "Pot Thief" mysteries.  They're not only great fun to read, but you can almost smell tortillas frying."

I'll tell you what I don't like as a mystery reader.  I'm not a fan of "slice 'em and dice 'em" mysteries.  I don't need to read page after page of gore and torture in intimate detail.  There's enough of that in the real world.  I'm also not a big fan of the typical "cozy" mystery.  They're a little too bland for me.  What I AM a fan of is a mystery that is intelligent, witty, highly entertaining, with some twists to keep me on my toes, some subject matter to teach me some things I don't know, and a character or two that I like.  Mr. Orenduff  has delivered all of that in his "Pot Thief" mysteries. I highly recommend that you search his books out if you haven't discovered them already.

Five Things I Miss From Indonesia

Hi, Nana.

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Now that I’ve been home for  a few days, I thought it might be fun to look at the top 5 things I miss from my time in Indonesia.  Here goes:

 Of course, FAMILY would be at the top of my list.  I miss spending time with Jason, Laura, and little Mika.

Taxis.  I know this might sound strange, since I really enjoy having my car again now that I am home but I did enjoy being able to flag down taxis and let them navigate us around the city.  And I have to admit, once I got used to it, not having to wear a seatbelt felt rather freeing BUT only when they were driving around in the city and then only because it was bumper to bumper and they couldn’t go very fast at all.  Otherwise, I hated not having seatbelts.

Jakarta.  I liked Jakarta.  It seemed to me to have the excitement of the big city without the feeling of having your life in constant danger, like I’ve felt whenever I’ve been in New York or DC or places like that.  I liked seeing all those skyscrapers coming into view when we’d take the train into town from Bandung or being able to walk from the apartment to a shopping center or taxi stand.

Warm Weather.  I’m a warm weather gal.  Coming back here to temps in the 20’s has NOT been fun.  I haven’t even been able to feel thawed out in the house.  And I hate having to put on all those layers of outerwear – heavy coat, gloves, scarf, hat.  Ugh!

Walking.  I DID enjoy the opportunity to walk much more than I do here.  With no car, we had to do a lot of walking and it felt good.  I know that I could make myself walk at home but frankly, when it is cold, I don’t set foot outside any more than I have to.  That just confirms my theory that folks in warm-weather states tend to be in better shape (think Florida and California, for example) because the climate is more conducive to getting outside and doing physical things. 

 

Top 10 Things I've Missed the Most

Now that I've been back in the States for almost 24 hours, I've had a chance to think about the things I've really been missing while I was in Indonesia.  I thought it might be fun to make up a list of my top 10 things for you.

1.  My Hubby - How can I NOT miss a man who gives me the freedom to be away for 5 weeks and who makes sure I come home to a clean house.  And how about this?  As I came out of the baggage claim area and saw my hubby standing at the exit, I walked up to him and apologized for looking so terrible.  I didn't have any makeup on, my hair had given up any semblance of style hours earlier, and I had dark circles under my eyes that made me look like someone had taken a Bingo dabber to each one.  He hugged me and told me that I was absolutely beautiful.  Now THAT'S a man who is a gem.

2.  My bed - I LOVE our bed and my body protests when I don't get to sleep in it.  It's been protesting for 5 weeks.  Last night I almost purred when I snuggled into that bed, between those flannel sheets, and set the Sleep Number and just let that mattress mold to my body.  Oy vey!  It was heavenly.

3.  Taking a Shower Without Having To Do a "Critter Check" First - It was so nice to jump into the shower this morning without first having to look carefully around to see if there were any lizards or other wildlife in there waiting to surprise me. 

4.  Good Drinking Water - I can just run a glass of water right from the tap and drink it without worrying about getting sick.  We take things like that for granted here but in certain countries (and where I was visiting was one of them) it is best to drink only bottled water and to use bottled water to brush your teeth. 

5.  Face Wipes - I know that this is such a "girlie" thing but I've really missed my face wipes that I use to clean my face in the morning and evening.  At my son's house, they didn't have a sink in the bathroom so I either had to lean into the shower area to get my face wet or go downstairs to the kitchen, clear out a spot in the sink and then wash my face.  Since towels and washcloths were also a scarcity there, I often just went to bed at night without cleaning my face at all.  Now it is a "lickety-split" operation and I'm ready to put on moisturizer.

6.  Newspapers and Television - It is great to have the daily newspaper waiting for me when I come downstairs in the morning.  I love reading the paper over breakfast.  In Indonesia, I think I only saw 3 newspapers during the entire 5 weeks and I saw no television.  I didn't have a clue as to what was happening in the world.  Because the internet was so slow and I had to borrow Jason's access, I didn't check the news sources on the internet because it was just too tedious.  I also missed my favorite TV shows.  Luckily, the Commander was "DVRing" them for me so now I can catch up at a leisurely pace.

7.  Keurig Coffee Machine - I LOVE my Keurig.  In Indonesia, I had to drink powdered coffee with cream mixed in with it.  I usually prefer my coffee black but it was hard to find instant coffee that way over there.  Today I put a "Pecan Praline" K-cup in the Keurig and had fresh, brewed coffee in seconds.  Aaaah!

8.  My family and friends Stateside - I miss my family in Indonesia but it sure is nice to be near not only my hubby, but also my daughter and her husband and my mom as well.  It was also great to pick up the phone and hear my good friend on the line and make plans to see her at church and to also know that I'll be seeing many other friends this coming week.  Yay!

9.  My car  - I did a lot of walking in Indonesia.  Even participating in the grocery shopping over there made me realize how handy it is to have a car.  I zipped over to the grocery store this morning (took about 5 minutes) and didn't have to worry about how I was going to carry the groceries home.  I just slung the bags into the back of the car and off I went.  No bone-jarring ankot traveling was required and I even got to listen to my own CD's on the car stereo.

10.  Ultra-fast Internet - We have FiOS here and it is blazing fast.  What a treat to turn on my computer this morning and know that I can instantly connect to all my favorite sites and that the "signal" isn't going to be dropped or slow down to a crawl.  And  related to #10, I'd have to add Amazon as another favorite thing I've missed.

What things would YOU miss if you had to travel to the other side of the world and live out of your suitcase for 5 weeks?  Tune in tomorrow to read about the things I miss the most about Indonesia.

I'm Back!

Winter in PA isn't as pretty as January in Indonesia.

Well, I made it back to the United States.  Apparently, it was "iffy" for awhile as to whether or not JFK would be open because of a pending snowstorm but the snow stayed mostly east of the city and north so we had no problem landing.  I'm really glad that I didn't know about this storm until I got back because otherwise I would have been really worrying.  The Commander and my friends were spending a lot of cranial energy trying to figure out where my flight might end up being diverted to if JFK was shut down.  Thank goodness this didn't happen.  Some of the possibilities were apparently Chicago and Toronto.  That would really have been a drive to get home after a long flight.

My time sitting around in the Hong Kong airport went quickly because I had free WiFi.  Yay!  I could surf the Web, write my blog, and watch people going in and out of the fancy shops in the concourse and that really made the time go quickly.  In fact, by the time I wandered down to my gate, my section was already boarding. 

The flight was long but non-stop.  I had thought it was going to fly over Siberia, Russia, the North Pole, and Europe.  Instead it flew in the opposite direction, flying over Japan, then across the Pacific Ocean, just skirting Alaska and then following the Canadian/American border until about Michigan where it cut down across the state and over into New York state and finally to JFK. 

We got two dinners on the flight and then it was lights out and most folks tried to sleep.  I didn't have much luck since I had another aisle seat so I think I might have gotten about 1 hour of sleep total from Jakarta to JFK.  I'm feeling it now.  I spent most of my time watching movies and TV shows.  I saw quite a few episodes of the "Big Bang Theory" and each one was good for another 20 minutes or so used up out of my total flight time.

When we arrived at JFK, we had no delay but came right in on time and then taxied right up to the gate.  As we walked into the airport itself, I kept hearing an announcement on the loudspeakers about being sure to pick up your luggage on carrel #1 or it would be staying at JFK.  I wondered why they weren't identifying which flight this was referring to.  Well, when we got to the Baggage Claim area, I was astonished to see that we were the only folks waiting to claim luggage.  The airport was practically deserted. 

True to form, getting my bags off the carrel didn't go smoothly.  The first big suitcase of mine was stuck up higher behind another suitcase so it wasn't right against the rail.  I grabbed it and tried to wrestle it off the moving track and finally got it, only to trip over the luggage cart that I was using.  I fell down plop right onto the cart.  A nice Asian man grabbed my one arm and a lady on my other side grabbed my other arm to help me up.  Then as I got to my feet, I dropped my purse.  As I bent to grab it, the lady also bent down to get it for me and we ended up banging our heads together.  Oh, my!  Talk about embarrassing.  The gentleman said to me, "Now when your next bag comes you, you be sure to point it out to me and I will get it for you."

That was really sweet of him.  Unfortunately his bags came out before my second bag showed up so he left the area and I was still on my own to try to get the bag.  I saw it coming around the bend this time and decided that I would get a running start.  I met it several cart-lengths away from me and gave it a mighty tug, dragging it over other suitcases which were in the way until I was able to slam it down next to my cart with a flourish.  Hopefully my display of brute force redeemed me somewhat in the eyes of my fellow travelers after my earlier klutziness.

Winter driving makes for very dirty cars.

 Another trip through the Customs area and then I was walking down the hall where I saw the Commander waiting for me.  Bless his heart, he had a bag filled with warm scarves and mittens for me to choose from, knowing that I hadn't taken any with me when I had left.  It didn't take us long to get the car loaded with my bags and to head for home.  I found out from the Commander that JFK had announced early in the morning that they were canceling all the domestic flights as they awaited the predicted snowstorm.  That's why there were so few people at the airport.  There were also lots of shut-downs and cancellations around Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York which made it an easy drive for George.  There was very little traffic out on the roads.  The great thing was that the snow never really hit as predicted.  There was just a few inches that fell but the bulk of the storm ended up hitting the New England States.

Home, Sweet Home!

We arrived back by 5 p.m. and I had the Commander go into the house first so that he could put the dog out into the backyard before I went in.  I knew that Fresca would be very happy to see me and I didn't want her to forget herself in the house.

Mommy's Home!

She sure was happy to see me.  I don't think she knew what to do first, give me a kiss, smell my bags and clothes, or just snuggle up against me.

Ah, pepperoni pizza!

I couldn't resist calling in an order for pepperoni pizza for supper.  I've been craving pepperoni and Italian sausage pizza ever since I got to Indonesia.  However, I found that I could only eat one slice before I got really full.  Guess I'm just not used to eating as much any more.

After supper, I went to take some pills and told my husband, "Oh, you can't imagine how nice it is to be able to just pour a glass of water straight from the tap and be able to drink it."

Won't be long now before I head up to bed and my own comfy mattress.  Oh, boy!  And I won't have to keep one eye open, looking for a darn lizard nor will I have to rub "Deep Woods Off" all over me before I fall into bed.  Thank you, Lord.

Heading Home

My first flight has successfully deposited me safe and sound here in Hong Kong.  It was quite something though getting me through the international airport in Jakarta and onto the plane.  My adventure started when Jason and I were picked up at the apartment in Jakarta by the airport taxi service.  I thought it was rather fitting that the same man who had picked me up when I arrived was now picking me up for my departure.

We had quite a lively discussion on many topics while navigating the traffic jams in Jakarta on our way to the airport.  I was so proud of Jason just listening to him speak so fluently in Bahasa Indonesia.  Our taxi driver also spoke fairly good English and between the two of them, I was able to participate in the conversations about 30% of the time.  He never stopped talking though, mind you.  When we finally arrived at the airport, I jokingly told Jason, “Well, I think I’ve used up my full allotment of ‘people interaction’ for the day and I’m not even on the first plane yet.” 

Jason smiled and said, “I know.   He’s a very nice fellow but sometimes I’d really like to just sit quietly and look out the window on these rides.”

Once we got my bags out of the taxi and into the airport, we could see the Cathay Pacific ticket counters in the next big room.  However, we had to go through a security queue first.  Jason and I got up to the guard and he asked for our boarding passes.  I was quite surprised since Jason was planning to help me with my big suitcases right up to the point where I would check them at the counter and then we planned to spend an hour together just talking and sipping coffee before I had to go through the final security check.  That was the plan.  However the reality was that he couldn’t go any further with me so our time together was really cut short.  He ran to get me a luggage cart and gave me some final instructions on how to maneuver the cart through the security checkpoint and then he promised to stand on the other side of the glass until I was all checked in and he saw me turn and wave at him.

Well, I got things a little flubbed up.  I don’t do too well with stress and unexpected changes in plans at the last minute so I was really feeling flustered.  I got the cart over to the machine ok, manhandled the bags off the cart, except for my carry-on bag which had gotten stuck in the rungs of the cart.   I pulled and pulled and finally wrenched it free.  Onto the pulley belt it went, followed by my two suitcases and coat.   As I started for the electronic arch to walk through it, the guard looked at me and said, “Purse.”  Whoops, I had forgotten to put my purse on the belt.  I slung it down on the belt and walked through the arch.  I beeped!  Sheesh!  I have no idea what was beeping although it could have been my watch, which they hadn’t asked me to take off.  Indeed, they didn’t have any trays to put little objects in so I hadn’t even considered taking off the watch.  You guessed it!  I had to stand there next while the guard wanded me all over.  I guess I passed because he motioned me over to the belt to pick up my suitcases. 

I was REALLY flustered now as I again tried to manhandle the suitcases off the belt.  Those things are heavy and I hadn’t planned to deal with them until baggage claim in New York so my mind just wasn’t in gear.  I grabbed the cart and finally got the suitcases and my carry-on bag on the cart and off I trundled to the check-in counter.  I handed my ticket and passport to the agent and manhandled the bags yet again onto the scale.  As I waited for the man to give me my boarding pass, I thought perhaps I should get a Kleenex out of my purse.  Oh, no!  My purse was nowhere in sight.  My heart about stopped as I gasped to the ticket agent, “I think I left my purse at the security checkpoint.  Can I run over there and check?”  He didn’t say “no” so I rushed back over to the conveyor thingie and said, “Purse.”  The guard looked at me and held up my bag.  Hooray!  They had picked it off the belt and put it aside.  I thanked them profusely and headed back to the ticket counter.  Oh, my!  I sure wouldn’t have gotten far with no handbag.

It took me awhile to have the courage to look in my handbag to make sure my billfold was still in there but when I did, everything was still in place.  Hooray!  After that, everything else was a piece of cake.  I turned and waved a final time at Jason before heading off to find my gate.  He waved back, I grabbed a tissue and dabbed my eyes as I trundled off, whereupon I promptly decided that I didn’t have a clue where I was supposed to be heading.  I found some ladies who looked like they were stewardesses and asked them where to find the departure gates and they pointed me in the right direction.  

The bright spot of the departure was that there were still a few shops that were open, including one batik shop and I was able to find several last minute items that I had been hoping to purchase.  The timing couldn’t have been better because within 15 minutes, the shops were locking up and the terminal was pretty quiet except for those of us who were flying out via the red-eye flights.

My flight to Hong Kong boarded right before midnight and to my delight, I discovered that I was the only one in my row.  I had the whole row to myself.  The flight wasn’t full at all.  Let me tell you, though, even though an aisle seat is nice to have when it comes to getting up to go to the loo, it is NOT conducive to sleeping.  It was miserable.   Sleep had to wait though because around 1 a.m. the stewardesses brought our meals.  

The flight was supposed to include breakfast.  Now I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t consider chicken and rice or fish and rice breakfast, would you?  I chose the chicken and rice since I simply couldn’t look a fish in the face at 1 a.m.  My first bite gave me a definite surprise.  If that was chicken, then poultry must moo.  I decided that the white rice looked pretty safe so I switched to that after a few more bites of the bovine chicken.

After the meals were cleared away, a stewardess came up to me and asked if I would mind filling out a survey.  Hey, I have a chance to win two tickets to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific by filling it out so I agreed.  While I was singing their praises, the lights in the cabin were turned off.  OK, folks wanted to sleep and that wasn’t a problem but I wanted to finish the survey so I looked around to try to figure out how to turn on my light.  It didn’t appear to be on the ceiling area by the actual lights so I concluded that it was on my armrest.  The only problem was, when I pressed the picture of a light bulb, nothing happened.  Finally I hailed a passing stewardess and asked her for assistance.  She tried punching my button and it didn’t work for her, either.  Then she tried punching the button on the seat next to me….that one didn’t work either.  

“I’ll have to turn it on at the control panel,” she said.  That was fine by me and off she went.  Let there be light.

Once I was done with the survey, I was ready to try to sleep.  I pushed the light bulb button and nothing happened.  Oh, wait.  That’s not entirely true.  Sometime during the survey, the light for the seat next to me had come on, so I now had two lights on in my row and neither one would turn off.

I again had to hail an attendant and this time ask them to turn off the lights.  Of course, they had to try punching my buttons first (no pun intended) and of course, they didn’t work so off they went to the control panel again.  The lights went off.

I snuggled down in my seat, pulled the blanket up to my chin and started to dose off.  Wham!  Suddenly the middle light came on and was aimed right in my face.  Half asleep, I almost yelled out, “OK, I did it.  I confess.”  Oh, wait……it was that pesky malfunctioning light again.  The stewardess came hurrying over.  

“Did you press the button with your arm?” she asked.

“No,” I assured her.”  “I could press that thing with my whole fist and it still wouldn’t work.  Try it for yourself.”  Again she pressed the buttons and nothing happened.  Off she went again and off the light went.

About an hour later, I woke up to find the light was on again.  My arm wasn’t anywhere close to the controls.  That’s how it went the rest of the flight.  The two lights would come on randomly and the stewardess would have to go to the control panel to get them off.  Wouldn’t you know that I had turned in that survey at the start of the lights incident or I could have mentioned them.  

All in all, though, I highly recommend Cathay Pacific Airlines.   They are very nice to fly with and the staff are so courteous and attentive.  They really treat you like royalty.  I mean, obviously, they must have known that I was a woman with a theatrical background because they had seated me in the row with the spotlights, right?  It’s too bad that the seats didn’t come with built-in microphones.  I DO love karaoke!

So now I’m waiting here in Hong Kong for the last leg of my trip – my non-stop flight to New York City.  I’ll catch you on the other side of the pond.

Last Day in Bandung

My last day in Bandung finally arrived and it was bittersweet.  I can’t say that I was sad to say goodbye to the mosquitoes or the lizards that lurk in my bedroom or the incessant noise in the neighborhood beginning around 3:45 a.m.  However, I WILL definitely miss Jason, Laura, and little Mika.

I spent the morning playing with Mika.  We had so much fun as she would crawl fast as a little crab from the sitting area into my bedroom, giggling merrily as I pretended to “chase” her.  Then she’d throw herself into her little tent/crib and scoot around and wait for me to pretend to try to find her.

  

When I’d peek inside, she’d laugh and then come crawling out and head over to my table beside the bed where she’d get a mischievous look on her face as she’d try to reach some of my things that I had slid to the back of the table out of her reach.  Failing to grab something off of the table, she’d “walk herself” along the table edge to my bed, “walk” along the side of the bed and the end of the bed to the door where she’d get back down and crawl quickly back into the sitting room and the whole cycle would begin again.  Oh, did we have fun.

Ibu Uez was helping out and took her for a walk around the neighborhood after lunch so that I could finish packing and get a quick rest.  I’ve been feeling like I’m coming down with a cold (Mika had it first and now Laura has one) and have been trying to stave it off long enough to get back to my own house.  Laura had told Ibu to be sure to have Mika back by 2:30 so that I could spend some final time with her before I had to head over to the language school to meet up with Jason and the taxi that was to be there to take us to the train station.  Well, it got to be 2:50 and still no Mika.  I was beginning to think that I would have to leave without saying goodbye to her but just then they walked in the door.

It was so hard to hug that little one and say goodbye, even knowing that she’ll be back in the States in a few months.  I was crying and then Ibu Uez started crying and Mika was looking at both of us with big eyes.  To make a long story short, Ibu ended up insisting on lugging my carry-on bag and my purse to the school for me so that I could carry Mika there and have some extra time with her.  We made a strange little parade through the kampung…..the two of us ladies sniffling, luggage dragging over the rocks, and one baby trying to grab the Kleenex out of her Nana’s hand.  I didn’t care because I got to hold that sweet baby just a little longer.  I sure appreciated Ibu’s loving offer.  I guess a “grandmother” is a “grandmother” in any country and we understand each other’s heart even when we can’t understand each other’s spoken language.

The taxi was already waiting when I got to the school (now THAT was a miracle) and Jason was walking out with my other two suitcases as I walked into the compound.  Ibu Uez and I gave each other another big hug and I thanked her yet again in my limited Indonesian and handed Mika back over to her and then it was time to go.

Jason and I had another train ride back to Jakarta and this time he didn’t have to jump off the train once we arrived.  Hooray!  It felt good to be back at the team apartment and I had a good night’s sleep for a change.  I didn’t even hear the call to prayer this morning.  I’m really going to miss this view from the apartment, too.   For some reason, I have really come to love the look of this tower that we can see from the apartment.  Its architecture just really appeals to me.

Today we are just taking it easy before it is time to catch a taxi to the airport this evening.  There will be plenty of time for sitting once I’m on the two flights that I’ll be catching to get home.  Jason and I walked across the street this morning and are sitting in Starbucks where he is continuing to work on the essays for the grad school applications and I’m working on this blog and enjoying listening to Frank Sinatra, Cab Calloway, and Rosemary Clooney being piped over the loudspeaker system.  The fellow sitting across from us working on his iPad has been glancing over at us occasionally, probably because I was singing along (quietly) with Rosemary on the song “Smile.”  Hey, at least I didn’t grab a napkin, roll it into a pretend microphone, jump up on one of the upholstered chairs and start doing my torch song singer routine. It wouldn’t have taken much provocation but it probably would have taken a little more caffeine than I have in me right now.

Lord willing (and the internet cooperating), my next post might be from the Hong Kong airport.  If not, I’ll hope to continue this tale from home.

Winding Down

Just a few more days here in Indonesia and then I’m heading home.  Jason and I will be taking the train back to Jakarta tomorrow afternoon after he finishes his language class.  We’ll stay overnight at the team apartment there so that I can be rested before we head off to the airport Tuesday evening where I’ll be catching the “red-eye special” to Hong Kong.  From there, I’ll catch another plane which will fly non-stop to JFK Airport where, Lord willing, the Commander will be waiting for me.

This morning Jason, Mika and I headed off to the Bandung International Church for their worship service.  Laura wasn’t feeling well enough to go so we left her at home resting.  She’s been hit hard by morning sickness so anything we can do to help her feel better, we are happy to try to do.  

We headed back after the service in time for Jason, Laura, and Mika to attend the first birthday party of a little neighbor girl.  This type of party is called something else in Indonesia.  It’s called “syukuran .”   It started at 11:00 a.m. and sure enough, suddenly we heard lots of children singing.  Jason wasn’t too sure if he should go since it looked like it was only mothers and their children but he headed off with the family and I guess it was OK, because he stayed until they all came back.  

It certainly didn’t take long for them to return.  Laura said that the guests presented the birthday girl with presents.  Then the mother of the girl brought out little presents for all the guests which included a balloon, a box of KFC chicken, a bag of potato chips, and some candy for each child.   There was a cake but it was just brought out to be shown and not cut and served.  The whole thing lasted about 20 minutes to a half hour and then it was over.  I’ll bet there are a lot of mothers in the West who would like to be able to get birthday parties over with that fast instead of them being half day ordeals.  

I started packing in the afternoon and have most of my things ready to go.  The challenge is that I can’t have the front section of my big suitcase fully packed until we are in Jakarta because it has to fit in the overhead of the train. That means I’ll have to take a large plastic bag along with some of my things in it in addition to my two suitcases and my carry-on for our journey tomorrow.  Thank goodness that I’ll have Jason to help carry all of this.  I’m doubly glad about that because we are going to have to lug it all up from the kampung to the main road and then stuff it into an angkot, since taxis are VERY hard to catch up in our area.  Sometimes you can have up to 20+ people crammed into these little old mini-vans so this should be quite the adventure but Jason says we’ll at least get to the train station quicker this way.

We all had lots of fun playing with Mika the rest of the day.  She continues to change so quickly.  I had started a little game with her to try to encourage her to eat where I’d pretend to feed one of her toys and then offer some food to her.  Now she has started “feeding” her toys on her own, making the little munching sounds that I was making.  It’s pretty cute.  She was also taking a few more steps on her own today back and forth between Mama and Papa.  She gets this mischievous little smirk quite often these days, tries out new sounds and words, and has definitely gotten used to having me around.  I sure will miss that little cutie.  I find myself making up little games to play with her that I remember my own mother  playing with my children.  Today we took an empty pizza box that Mika was quite enthralled with and when she kept crawling into it, I turned it into a choo-choo train and gave her rides around the room in it.  She thought that was a lot of fun.  Her little play cellphone has one ring that sounds like an Asian “dance party.”  When she pushes that button, I start dancing around, much to her delight.  Jason said to me today, “Mom, this is a talent of yours that I’ve never seen before” (and added under his breath) “and I could probably have lived happily having NOT seen it.”  Laura threw a plastic frog at him.  Hmmph!  And to think that this is the son whose own grandmother taught him to pick up his cereal bowl and blow bubbles in the milk.  Who does he think I learned all MY tricks from?  

So as I sit here tonight watching Jason spraying ants who are crawling in a steady stream from the window to the door and keep an eye on the cicak (lizard) crawling on the wall, I can’t believe that I’ve survived  5 weeks in Indonesia.  I’m the girl who has always liked her creature comforts.  I thought I’d be on the next plane if a bug flew past me at night.  But I’ve survived multiple mosquito bites, ants all over the place (including two in my water today), a huge cockroach that I had to get Laura to come kill, flying bugs that I haven’t identified, lizards crawling around on my bedroom walls and floors, and assorted bug body parts that I’ll find here and there.  I’m not keen about any of them but my love for my family here has apparently been stronger than my fears.  Go figure!  I’ll sure miss my little family but this time around, I know that they’ll be heading Stateside in a few months to await the birth of their second child.  That makes it much easier to have to say “goodbye.”   

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my adventures.  One thing that I’ve learned from all this (and I hope you can also take encouragement from) is that you can do more than you think you can do, no matter what your age or your past life experiences.  And as I’m mentioned before and still firmly believe, when you go through something on your own, things can often seem quite daunting but when you have someone along for the journey, those same experiences become an adventure.  I know that Jason and Laura have really been instrumental in making this trip one that I’ll be laughing about and savoring the memories of for years to come.