Af- ri- ca

A three syllable word that means thrills, excitement, awesome sights, lifelong dream...

I'm mentioning casually that I won a trip to Africa....have to be casual or I'll be jumping up and down for months! It all started with Marie asking me if I wanted to go to the Mardi Gras party that "Meals on Wheels" was putting on to raise money. I said I would go, although I wasn't too enthusiastic about it.


I got there and believe me, I had a wonderful time. I met a lot of new people and bid on some silent auctions, had dinner, a few drinks and I thought I was all through.


Ha! Then came the Live Auctions. They had a few local trips and even a chihuahua puppy that I wasn't interested in and I thought I was safe. Then....along came an all expense paid trip to Namibia for two for a photo safari. Well I've always wanted to go to Africa so I bid on it. And then bid again, and again and again and then once more - and I won!

The safari people are coming to my house on Friday to tell me all about it, I guess to tell me I'll be living in a tent surrounded by leopards, snakes and scorpions with only a camera for defense.

Springtime in Africa is in September, about a month before summer officially starts and the temperature starts to rise higher than 115 degrees. The safari company has a website, if you are interested in looking at all the wonderful things they do. http://www.sumsare.net/ . Take a peek, maybe you will want to plan a real safari - with guns!

In the meantime, I'm going to all the airline sites to find flights that aren't too expensive. I think the flight will be in two legs, one from here to Frankfurt, Germany and another from Frankfurt to Windhoek, Namibia.

Already I am picturing myself packing a suitcase. OOOOhhhh that's the worse part of the whole trip. How many 'things' can I live without for a week?

Vet Blues

Tinker went to the vet today and got a total of seven shots, including her rabies shot. She also had her teeth cleaned and she is feeling depressed and sore all over. She's mad at me too, doesn't even want to look at me. If I walk up to her she turns her head away.

Dogs are funny that way when they feel they have been betrayed. I guess people are too but since dogs have those long tongues and can't form words, their actions have to speak louder.

Christmas 2009

Our family Christmas celebration was held on the 20th this year so that the clan could be together.

Andrew was pleased with the Wii he got. Elena loved the Wii game that she got to play on the Wii she got a few years ago.

After we ate a huge meal consisting of all kinds of hor d'oevres, including roasted shrimp, tenderloin slices, baked jalapenos that were stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon (from Tommy's kitchen), hummus, green salad and so many other things, we all sat down to open gifts.

The kids had waited patiently for hours and anticipation was high when we finally got the signal that gifts were about to come out of hiding. Jeff and Margaret are waiting just as patiently.

My favorite picture is one of Jeff and Margaret's son and my great grandson Dakota very carefully opening a package.









On Christmas Eve it snowed all day here in
Texas and my front courtyard had started to fill up with snow. In my blog post last spring I posted a picture of the courtyard without snow and ready for the summer months.

Face Games

Facebook has become an enormously favored social networking website. Oh yes, of course I have a Facebook page and I've been sucked into playing the games. Farmtown first and then I joined Farmville, then Lil Farm. Yoville became a big interest when I found out I could decorate an apartment with coins I earned visiting friends and baking cakes!

The only useful game I've joined is African Safari where some of the advertising dollars and cash used to buy the monetary 'shells' is going to help buy mosquito nets to prevent malaria in Africa.

After playing these games for awhile, one morning I woke up and couldn't bend my right arm! I don't know if I have tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome which has effected my elbow or it's just plain arthritis. The outside bone in my elbow is larger and I have trouble picking things up, even a coffee cup.

So this is the computer revolution! I've heard that AT & T is going to stop printing phone books and some newspapers now can only be read online.

My arm had better get better fast, I can't wait weeks to read the news or contribute dollars for mosquito nets, I need to get going now!

Healthcare

I couldn't let President Obama's speech go uncontested. He said many positive things, one being that illegal aliens would not get health insurance and would be exempt from any free healthcare. What he didn't talk about is the Amnesty Project, which will in effect give citizenship to all these illegal aliens and therefore, they will be getting health insurance. If they can't afford it, it will be free. Is that a dichotomy or what?

Can anyone give me a good reason why legalized Americans will be paying for everything and why these illegals will be getting free healthcare still?

And another thing I read in the paper today that Canada is very unhappy with their government run healthcare system and want to change it to be more like the United States. Why are we trying to be more like Canada when we know it hasn't worked for them?

May?

It can't be May already. I thought I'd updated this blog a few weeks ago but it was March! Not that I like to talk about time passing me by, but it is. After a certain age, time whizzes by so fast you think "I just took the trash out yesterday" and here it is Thursday again and time to take out the trash.

Saturday nights are just the same as week nights. Used to be Saturday nights were date nights or eat out nights or movie nights. Now I just say to myself on Friday night, "Oh tomorrow is Saturday, I can sleep late".

So May is on it's way to becoming June. I hope I remember to look at the calendar in time so I know June is here.

OMG, this blog update is pathetic!

Earth Hour

I hope you will join and help the world support EARTH HOUR.




http://www.earthhouramericas.org/official_ads/English/Digital/300x250.swf