I WENT SHOPPING!

BY MYSELF!!! ha

Ok, this is not a blog about the wonders of Australia that I’ve recently seen, but it is something that happened in Australia. I went shopping by myself of my own free will - only my husband and my daughter really understand what a big deal this is! I never go shopping unless I just absolutely have to get out and go (like there’s a special event that afternoon). Online vendors were invented just for me; I am so happy to peruse at home and click on that ‘shopping cart’ button! Since I was feeling a bit homesick or something today (maybe just tired from not sleeping well), I decided maybe I should try out that old adage: when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping! It seems to have worked because here I am, writing one of those millions of blogs that have been going through my head.

Hubby has been after me for a while to get a new carryon bag. He’s very gentle in this, mind you, but just suggests every time we fly something along the lines of “Are you taking *that* bag again?” *That* bag is something that looks like an oversized bowling ball bag and since the airlines have crowded the seats even closer together (doesn’t seem possible but they have!), *that* bag barely fits these days. Oh, it’s fine as far as the legal size goes, but just trying to turn it on its side when it’s loaded and cram it down between seats and then under the seat in front of you can bring up a good sweat… and OMG if I have to pull it out inflight to get something out! However, this was a FREE bag! Yup. It was a great gift to me from the nice lady behind the Estee Lauder counter who was so happy I restocked on my favorite fragrance, body lotion, and body powder that she gave me this wonderful bag about ???? years ago. And I mean years ago.

So.. here I was, feeling schlumpy… and as a side note, I looked up the definition of schlumpy.

It reads, and I quote:

“Looking like a schlump; slovenly or unbecoming.”

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/schlumpy

Well, of course it said that, but that didn’t satisfy me so I looked further for the word ‘schlump’ :

“Yiddish: shlump sloppy or dowdy person”

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schlump

I just knew I would’ve made a good Jewish mother; I love Yiddish!

Anyway, I digress… so feeling schlumpy and homesick a bit, I tested the theory of ‘shopping will make you feel better.’ I am here to say, YES, it does! I am probably the only person on the planet who needed to test that theory, but the results are positive!

I realize it’s only a bag but you know how some people are ‘shoe people’ or ‘hat people’ or ‘jewelry people’ or whatever floats your boat? I am a purse/bag person! Yes, I’m coming out of the closet now: I love a good purse. There are lots of nice purses out there but to find the one that I think is finally the perfect one? It’s a quest, my friends, a lifelong quest. Just ask my daughter who has had the dubious thrill of going shopping with me when I’m in one of my ‘find a purse’ moods. Fortunately, those moods are rare. The purse I am using now is one I found, you guessed it, online. J

So, without further ado, a picture:

 

And since one bag is good, then two must be better, yes?

 

 

And, drum roll here: THEY WERE ON SALE!!! Probably the best deal in Sydney these days! I bought them from a cute little shop in Darling Harbour called Bag Me. I tried to find a website for them so I could give them the credit they are due but sadly, they don’t seem to have one. I did find this link with picture for you though:

http://www.harbourside.com.au/section/store/248

So there’s my adventure for today. It was a small adventure but a fun one. Let me know if you like them or even if you don’t. I can handle it. I like them and frankly, they’re for me, hahaha!

I do have lots of ideas for blogs, and I most definitely owe you readers one about the Taronga Zoo, so I will try not to get too distracted and start working on one soon, but I think now I’m off to work on my knitting for a while. Thanks for stopping by!

My Excellent Adventure Down Under

Featherdale Wildlife Park

FINALLY! We had a day for adventure, and I wanted to see Australian animals. There are 2 places we could go that showcase Australia’s animal life: Taronga Zoo or the Featherdale Wildlife Park. We’d heard and read that the wildlife park allowed a more intimate and closeup view, so that’s how we decided to go there. It’s about an hour or so train ride from Sydney. These are commuter trains we take, and they have their own story to tell; yes, that means I have another blog I want to write!! So many blogs….but let’s get back to Featherdale. The link is here: 

http://www.featherdale.com.au/

but here is a brief history from that site:

“Established on 7 acres of land originally purchased by Charles and Marjorie Wigg in 1953, Featherdale has evolved from a poultry farm into one of the best privately owned wildlife parks in Australia. The Wigg’s son-in-law, Bruce Kubbere, studied Australian fauna from early childhood and with his vision and encouragement, Featherdale opened to the public as a wildlife park in 1972.  In the early years Bruce, and his wife Margaret, operated a plant nursery in conjunction with the Wildlife Park. Beautiful Australian native trees and plants now line the walkways and landscape the enclosures as a legacy of the park’s history.  Featherdale’s future was threatened in 1975 with plans to use the property for a housing commission development. The then Premier, Sir Robert Askin, was presented with thousands of signed petitions, most of which were signed on behalf of local residents who stressed “the importance of Featherdale Wildlife Park” to district school children. Fortunately, the government rescinded its original decision and the park was saved.”

 

It's very small, but that makes it an easy day for walking around. I, for one, am glad they saved it!

  

 

Interestingly, this park is in the middle of a neighborhood in a community called Doonside. Literally in the neighborhood. This is the street view from outside the park:

 

 

I can only imagine how much fun it must be to live near here. They have lots of birds/fowl, which include cockatoos, parrots, kookaburras, owls, storks, emus, peacocks, and eagles. If you’ve ever had parrots and/or cockatoos, you will know that they have their noisy times, usually early morning and evening. Owls, of course, talk in the evening. I haven’t heard a kookaburra yet live, but what I’ve heard online when I investigated their call is LOUD. I personally love birds and all their various vocal talents, so I mean it when I say it must be great fun to live in this neighborhood. It must be a symphony of bird calls when they all start up! I can't forget the penguins either!! Yes, penguins! The cutest little penguins! They are known as Little Blue Penguins, Blue Penguins, or Fairy Penguins, and are common around the southern coast of Australia and in New Zealand. Here are some pictures so you can see some of what we saw, but there are so many varieties of birds, I can’t possibly post them all. I never knew there was a black cockatoo! So many beautiful birds here….

kookaburra

albino kookaburra

 

black cockatoo

 

cockatoo

emu

owls

little blue penguins

 

The kangaroos were lots of fun. The first thing we noted was that they were small, so small, I thought we were looking at wallabies. I’m no expert, so I finally looked them up on the internet and sure enough, kangaroos come in all sizes. Wallabies tend to be on the small side, but I guess one way way to tell the difference is by their heads. A kangaroo’s face/snout is longer. I found this info from a website called “How Stuff Works”.

 

Kangaroos can also get to be quite large, whereas wallabies stay on the small side. Good thing they keep small ones at Featherdale, because they’re just out, hopping next to you! Great fun, kind of exciting.. but I don’t think I’d like to meet one that was 8’ tall like that! The kangaroos at Featherdale are used to visitors, so it’s easy to reach down and pet one. The hardest thing is getting the children out of your way so you can get in close!!

 

 

Then, there were the koalas. That’s what you’ve mostly been waiting to see, yes? Well, us too! We were there on a warm day and of course, koalas are nocturnal, so here’s mostly what we saw:

 

 

And the ones we did see? Asleep. I mean really, really ASLEEP.

 

I wish I could sleep like that! One of the most fun things at Featherdale is that you can also pet the koala! So we did! The koala could’ve cared less. At least he didn’t wake up and bite me! I really wanted to scoop him up and give him a big cuddle, but I resisted (besides, you should see the claws on this guy!). And I really wanted to stand there and pet him for a long time, but there were other people in line, so a quick pet is all we got.  And yes, his fur is kinda soft. I want to go back and pet him again!

 

We wandered over to see the dingos, but guess what! Asleep. Couldn’t see a thing. We did see this tho:

 

I have no idea what that is, but its cute little butt was just all we could see.

We went to the reptile house and saw snakes and lizards (of course!) But my favorite sight was this little guy who was outside the reptile house. I couldn’t decide if he was trying to get in or just happy to be out!

 

And then, there was this:

That little wall around him just didn’t seem tall enough or strong enough. Luckily, he looked well-fed and sleepy, and totally uninterested in any of us staring at him. This guy gave me the willies.

All in all, it was a really nice day. A little warm so most of the animals were asleep, but still a great way to get up close and personal with kangaroos and koalas, certainly something I’m not likely to experience anywhere else. And I still want to go to the zoo, too. J

 

My Excellent Adventure Down Under

I’m Baaaaccckkkkk……

 

After 7 weeks in Sydney, we were able to squeak in a week-long trip back to Southern California. It was great to see our grandson and family, and our own bed felt really good. The week was packed with appointments, trying to get through 7 weeks’ worth of mail, dinners with friends and family, and household chores. Before we knew it, it was time to fly back. I have to admit, I had mixed feelings about coming back; not that I don’t love being here, but I am a homebody, and spring had sprung in SoCal so my yard was calling me. It’ll have to wait. Duty calls.

And so we are back. It actually felt really good coming in through the airport. As we were riding in the taxi to the hotel, I recognized various neighborhoods, landmarks, etc., and I realized that Sydney has become something of a second home. We know good places to eat, where to get our few groceries and things we need. We also have our same apartment, so it really is like being in our home away from home. We are no longer strangers here; just Americans living in Australia.

The hotel staff remembered us! Well, actually, after seeing our faces for 7 weeks, would they really forget? We had to wait a bit to move in; seems the people that were in the apartment were taking their time leaving. I can’t blame them; the view up here is spectacular. The weather is suddenly fall-like. Who knew there would be a noticeable difference in only a week? The air is crisper and cooler; and oh happy days! the SUN is out more than the clouds!

 

The summer crowds are gone; what a relief. I can go outside almost anytime during the day now and not be crushed by the crowds on the street or indundated with cigarette smoke. Smoking is still the predominant addiction I see here, but there is definitely less of it during the day. I still have to use my inhaler on a daily basis as I am very sensitive to it, but it's nice to get outside and not have an instant headache and asthma attack.

It’s also great to go into some of the restaurants we tag as our favorites and have the staff ask where we’ve been! It’s like being welcomed by old friends and I guess that’s where we are now in this whole adventure, making friends and seeing friendly faces.

Work still takes precedence over sightseeing. Monday through Friday, hubby leaves for his office by 7 a.m. and comes home around 6:30 p.m. He also works some in the evening and of course, there will be weekends where he will work from the apartment, but I am hopeful that we will get out more than we did the first trip here.

I still have tons of projects I am working on. I never lack for something to do. I’m even taking on some transcription work, so there’s money to be made by me as well! Transcription typically doesn’t make one rich, but I find it interesting, and it keeps my mind active.

I have lots of ideas for more blogs, too. I really appreciate those of you who take some time to read my thoughts and share my adventures. I promise more blogs with more pictures! This is such an interesting time in my life, and I enjoy sharing it! Who knew this girl from Texas would find such adventures?

My Excellent Adventure Down Under

The Queen Victoria Building

 

I thought it was about time I took you somewhere! How about the Queen Victoria Building? It’s actually a mall now, but here is a brief history provided by their website:

The Queen Victoria Building, now affectionately known as the QVB, was designed by George McRae and completed in 1898, replacing the original Sydney markets on the site. Built as a monument to the long reigning monarch, construction took place in dire times, as Sydney was in a severe recession. The elaborate Romanesque architecture was specially planned for the grand building so the Government could employ many out-of-work craftsmen - stonemasons, plasterers, and stained window artists - in a worthwhile project. Originally, a concert hall, coffee shops, offices, showrooms, warehouses and a wide variety of tradespeople, such as tailors, mercers, hairdressers and florists, were accommodated.

This link will take you to their website:

http://www.qvb.com.au/

This is some mall, let me tell you. It's just a couple of blocks from our hotel/apartment, so it's within easy walking distance. There are almost 170 shops and restaurants! It has at least 4 different levels, the stores getting more and more exclusive as you go higher and higher. Fabulous restaurants, too! This is where I had that fantastic piece of lemon meringue pie (cake by Aussie lingo).  I wish I liked to shop (I missed out on the shopping gene); I’d go over here more often!

 

Remember this? Yummy!



 

The architecture is astonishing. You have to remember not to walk around with your mouth gaping open! In fact, the building is so beautiful that it is used for wedding photos; we saw 3 different wedding parties the afternoon we were there. Can you imagine any mall in America as a backdrop for your most important day? Rather than just talking about it, let me show you some of the pictures we took:

 

 

A view from the top floor
 

 

So much stained glass!

So very pretty; I can see why wedding parties like to have photos taken here!
 

This clock chimes on the hour, quite lovely
 

I had to get at least one shop in, yes? This one is for my sister-in-law, Lola: a shop of your very own!!

Looking down to the other floors... BIG, isn't it? If you look close to the balconies, you can see tables and people.. this is how restaurants/cafes increase their seating capacity. You can sit down out there and the hard working waiters run up and down waiting tables all day. All the waiters I saw were slim and fit! lol

 

 



This was a great way to spend a rainy afternoon, walking with my husband and having some pie and tea for an afternoon break. Like I said, I'm not a shopper, but if I were, this mall could do severe damage to our bank account! It is a great place for people watching, too.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing this little bit of Sydney. I have many other places I will show you as our adventure down under continues!

 



 

My Excellent Adventure Down Under

What Am I Doing Here????

Part III

 

So… are you curious about what I’m doing all day while hubby is at work? No? Well, I will tell you anyway… I am accomplishing the Number One item on my list of ‘What I Will Do in Australia’ and that is: Nothing. Not a thing. J  Ok, that’s not quite accurate; I am getting things done. But not what people expected me to do. And I’m okay with that, because my reality and those expectations are nowhere near the same. This trip, for me, was MY TIME. For the first time in my life, I would have no obligations.

This type of lifestyle is a huge departure for me. I am regimented. I have things to do and people that depend on me, and it’s been that way as long as I can remember. I went from childhood home to marriage to children/work/life/divorce/remarriage with no ‘me’ time in there anywhere. I am always up at 5:30 a.m. I keep busy, doing all those things busy people do. So the idea of doing nothing but what I wanted was a bit overwhelming. How do you do that? Won’t something fall apart?

Knowing that hubby would be working at an intense rate, I brought projects, projects, and oh yeah, some projects. Some are computer projects: organizing those photos that have been dumped into the ‘photo’ file on the computer for the last 8 years or so, cleanup general files on the computer, etc. Exercise more. Really learn to meditate. Read. Sleep. Sightsee (that will be covered in part IV). Twiddle my thumbs. Get to know hubby again. Think. Write. Play Angry Birds, a lot! Improve my tatting skills. You get the idea. Basically, whatever my mood was for the day would be my agenda, with a few chores thrown in. And I have to say, I’ve done very well for myself.

I am relaxed! I can’t remember feeling this relaxed! My mornings are s l o w. The first week or so, I was out of bed with hubby and busy busy busy, then I remembered I wasn’t supposed to be doing that this trip! So I started sleeping in. First till 6 a.m., then 6:15 a.m., then 6:30 a.m. This morning, I didn’t get out of bed until almost 7 a.m.! I read my online morning stuff; I eat a slow, leisurely breakfast. I do a few chores and catch up on any correspondence/bills/emails. I have a nice cup of tea. I catch a few friends on Facebook or Words with Friends. I try to meditate – I’m just not very good yet at turning my brain off. I do some form of exercise. Oh yeah, I could get used to this!

After lunch, I’m ready to get into a project. I work on my writing. I love working on this blog. The hardest part of writing is showing up! Writing is enjoyable for me, but doesn’t come easy. I write/delete/write/edit. I make notes. I do some research, depending on what I’m writing about. I’ve done some of the computer work; those photo files are looking better and better, and I will soon be able to actually find photos as I need them! I haven’t done much book reading or tatting; I have improved my Angry Birds skills. However, the best thing I’ve done is spend the last 4 weeks with someone I’ve wanted to know better over the last few years, me! And I’m beginning to like her, more and more!

One thing I have learned about myself: I am not a city girl. I love being here; it is exciting, but I am ready for something other than buildings and traffic noise and food smells wafting in through the open windows and yes, my windows are usually open because I prefer that to air conditioning. Fewer people to move through on the sidewalk would be good. No cigarette smoke would be fantastic! Some bird sounds would be nice. Some plants and grass would be great! A yard to dig in would be even better! I am a suburban or country girl for sure.

 

I’m learning to speak for myself. Sounds silly, doesn’t it? I’m almost 60; surely I would know how to do that. Actually, no, I have very little experience with it. I have always done what I thought others wanted me to do or hear me say. I would just ‘go along’. Don’t make waves. You know what I mean. A small example would be dinner: my pre-Australia response would likely be “whatever you want to do is fine”, but now, I speak up. If I want a steak, I want a steak! Hubby likes it! If I’m by myself, I have to make myself clear, especially to the poor Australian who is trying to understand my Texas/California-speak. I am learning to be unafraid to say what I need or what I mean. This is huge for me. In a way, it’s a matter of survival, because I am in an area where I don’t know anyone or where things are. I have to fend for myself. Guess what! I can do that!

 

For all of you who are working out of the home and in the home, dealing with family responsibilities, life responsibilities, etc., I want you to know that I truly appreciate this time. I am not without some responsibilities here, but they are certainly greatly reduced. I wish each of you could find a way to do this, and I would encourage you to figure out a way to find at least 15 minutes of private time a day if not more (an hour would be the best!). I’ve seen all those Oprah shows, too, and know how impossible it sounds to do that, but give it a try, or as they say here in Australia, give it a go, mate. You just might find out that you really are your own best friend!

 

Next time: Part IV: Sights to See

My Excellent Adventure Down Under

Part II, Where We Live

We had a lovely little 1-bedroom apartment on the 36^th floor of an apartment/hotel (The Meriton) in the business district of downtown Sydney. I felt like I was in Manhattan! I’ve never been to Manhattan, but I’ve seen it on TV a lot! It felt very “citified” for a suburban housewife like me. Surrounded by tall buildings, a view of a harbor not too far away, the hustle and bustle! Everything was going to be great! This was our BIG adventure, sans les enfants et famille, just us!

Sunday was a blur after flying all night and staying awake all day and through dinner. We managed to get a good night’s sleep and wham! It’s Monday! Hubby was up getting ready for work at 5:30 a.m., so I walked into the kitchen to get a few breakfast things out (we did grocery shopping on Sunday, too). And what is the first thing I see? The beautiful harbor view? A blue sky? That hustle and bustle of the big city? Well, in a way, there was hustle and bustle all right….right there, running in a tiny trail across my kitchen counter – ANTS! I couldn’t believe my eyes! Since ants are one of my most hated pests at home in California, I felt like I had somehow manifested all my fears into this sci-fi reality here in Sydney. I was on the 36^th floor for Pete’s sake! And these ants were so tiny, microscopic almost… and FAST! I’d actually picked up a Windex-type cleaner at the grocery store on Sunday (yes, I know, compulsive cleaner), so, having ant experience because of living in SoCal, I attacked that line with the spray cleaner and voila! the ants disappeared, but not for long. A call down to the desk produced some surprised desk clerks and a surprised houseman at my door with a can of bug spray. Now, this first week/weekend in Australia just happened to be a national holiday- Australia Day, so the hotel was packed.  The hotel was sympathetic but had no other rooms available at the time, so for about a week, every day, twice a day, morning and afternoon, those little guys would show up.  So we waited and sprayed. I just couldn’t believe it. Our breakfast cereal truly became 'cold' cereal as I stored all our food in the refrigerator now!  The hotel was good to their word and after a week, we were able to pack everything up and move to a different apartment.

This new apartment is actually a little bigger with a better view (and no ants!), sort of a 1-bedroom penthouse to me! We have an entryway, a combination living/dining room, a tiny kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, laundry room with washer and dryer, and a balcony that is probably great but I'm too chicken to go out on it (too high!). Pretty much all the comforts of home without having to tend to a yard J …  and while I think of it, the water in the toilet does not swirl in the opposite direction; let me just dispell that myth right now! We are way up on the 43^rd floor with a great view of Darling Harbor. I thought that was just a quaint description of the harbor, but it really is called Darling Harbor and on Saturday nights, they shoot fireworks off at 9:00 p.m., just like Disneyland! It's loud and spectacular!  

As a friend of ours said, being in Sydney is the closest thing to being in L.A. while being out of the United States. Sydney is great; it’s a busy city, but it feels so much like L.A. that we have to remind ourselves we are in a foreign country. The temperature, the terrain, the vegetation, and hundreds of people walking around all day… it’s like being in the South Bay in L.A. with the exception that it actually rains here! We have floods to the north and fires to the west, just like L.A. winters, although it is summer here. The food is fabulous, and the people are very nice. And those accents! Yes, they do say “g’day”, “no worries”, and call everyone “mate”.

So now you know how I ended up here and where I am living while I’m here… but do you want to know what I’m actually doing while hubby is at work?

I’ll get to that in Part 3….

My Excellent Adventure Down Under

Part I, The Beginning

  

So here I am, ‘down under’, in Sydney, Australia. Everybody wants to go to Australia. It’s been on my bucket list, too. So how did I make the trip? Well, let’s start with the backstory, shall we?

Flashback to August 2012. Hubby comes home from work one day with the dreaded announcement “I’ve been laid off.” Such a familiar phrase uttered too many times in too many families far too often these days. You try not to panic but the reality is; you’re panicked. Anyone know a company looking for a great CIO in SoCal?? We were very fortunate that my husband had severance pay. So he set about looking for work, and I set about vowing to pinch pennies as best I could. A few weeks later, hubby mentions that he had been offered a job in Australia. Really? Do we want to go? For a variety of reasons at that time, for that particular position, the answer was no.

 

December 2012 comes along, and Australia is mentioned again, this time for a different position. The idea is intriguing and frankly, there are no other jobs knocking on our door at the moment. The decision is not an easy one in many ways. I am/was the chief babysitter for our grandson and for many reasons, this was a difficult choice for me, least of which was the position it put my daughter and her husband with daycare. I’ve been a single mom; I know how hard and expensive it can be. Fortunately, our grandson was already enrolled part-time in a preschool that he just loves so from his perspective, staying in school longer was a great idea; my daughter also understood what a unique opportunity this was for us, so the decision was made that yes, this time we would go. Another factor was that we weren’t actually moving to Australia; we would be going for several trips over the course of 4 months or so, so why not?

I have never traveled to a foreign country before. I have a passport, because my husband has had to travel and we felt I should have one in the event I needed to go to wherever he might be. I have been into British Columbia but at the time, you only needed a driver’s license to go over, so that little passport of mine didn’t have a single stamp in it. What in the world do I take? We would be gone this first trip for 7-8 weeks. That’s a long time for someone like me who’s only used to quick trips to visit relatives! And then it hit me:  pack for a long vacation, silly! So we did. But then there’s travel insurance, notifying credit cards and bank accounts, making sure I can pay bills online in Australia, and details, details, details. Every time we thought we had things pretty much under control, something else would appear that needed to be attended to. Eventually, we plowed our way through all those things and finally, at last! we were on our way to LAX on Friday afternoon, January 18, 2013.

We had not had to go through international security at LAX before, well, at least for me and it had been pre-9/11 for my husband, so we decided to get to the airport early. Can’t be too careful, dontcha know? We were scheduled to fly out at 11:30 p.m. and yes, there we were, at LAX by 5:30-6. No comments, please! Interestingly, there are no real restaurants after you go through international security, so we had a nice, leisurely dinner before and then walked on through. It was probably the easiest trip through security I’ve ever had to make! Not a huge line, no extra-nervous TSA agents, just do the normal strip-down of shoes, etc and walk through the x-ray machine. That was easy!

So, there we were, feeling like we were the first ones at a party (an L.A. thing) and no one else in sight. It was kinda nice, at first. Eventually, other passengers for other flights showed up, as well as passengers for our flight. First flight left, and there we sat. Other flights came and went and then, yes, you guessed it, the delay announcement. Our plane was coming from New York and apparently, bad weather won so our flight was delayed 2 hours! Ok, we were already going to be flying all night, but sheesh, I usually go to bed at 10! This was going to be way past my bedtime! But you deal with it, because you have no choice. Just as 1:30 a.m. approaches, we’re told we have yet another delay- the plane simply isn’t here yet. Oy vey. Finally, we board our plane and get ready for takeoff. It’s around 2:15-2:30 a.m., and we settle in for a 14-hour flight. Hubby and I don’t sleep well on planes, but let’s just say we made it unscathed, landing in Sydney on Sunday morning around 11:15-11:30 a.m. When you fly from the U.S. to Australia, you fly over the International Date Line, so although we left on Friday night (Saturday morning), we lost most of Saturday somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and ended up in Sydney on Sunday. Just don’t think about it too hard.

We’d been told by several people we know that have traveled internationally that one of the best things you can do for yourself after a flight like this is to NOT go to sleep. We did pretty good, getting to our hotel/apartment in downtown Sydney, unpacking, keeping busy… until about 4:30-5, when I sat down on the couch. We were meeting my husband’s boss for dinner at 5:30… and if hubby hadn’t had better resolve than me, we would have missed it. My eyes got so heavy! But we made it, dinner was lovely, and we headed home to bed.

 

Stay tuned.....