Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Mom’s 11/11/11 Birthday Gift

 

Hey everyone! So, for my mom’s birthday this year (11/11/11), my dad and I put together a book with pictures of friends and family around the world wishing her a happy birthday. Here are all the pictures that were in the book. MANY thanks for everyone’s participation! She LOVES the book! (Just a note, some pictures are on the same page and some have captions or accompanying notes which I did not include here.)

Enjoy! And again, thanks to everyone for making this happen!

 

IMG_8594

JonahErica

Norma

Debora

PaulMaryRichards

NaomiSarah and Mitzi

Nancy and Jo

v1_Judith

Paula Mutzi

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Back in the World

 

Soooo. It’s been awhile, eh? Just about a month, in fact. And for quite a chunk of that time, I was sick. At the beginning of November I went to the doctor to get a diagnosis because the “cold” I picked up during my DC trip just wasn’t going away, plus there were more alarming symptoms popping up. The doc decided to treat it as a sinus infection and gave me some antibiotics and hydrocodone cough syrup. She also took a blood test to rule out other things, but that came back completely normal a few days later.

After ten days of antibiotics and knock-out cough syrup, I seemed to be getting better. The odd dip in energy still hits once in a great while, but I’m up and about now, thank goodness! I helped out a little bit with the end of the moving process, and now my parent’s are happily ensconced in their new place, steadily unpacking boxes and setting it all up. It’s a lovely house and their plans for it are ever-evolving. The guest bedroom is mine ‘til I vacate! We’ve had fun cooking, setting up the new tv, celebrating my mom’s birthday and planning some landscaping.

So, now that I’m mostly healthy again (although not quite 100% yet), I’ve started up pondering my immediate future again. Nothing has much changed, so I’m as conflicted as before, but I’ve begun my Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) application and researching which tests I need to take, and how and when. Doing the application (aside from the tests) makes me nervous and unsure that they’ll take me, as there are so many fields I have to leave blank or answer negatively to, regarding teaching experience. Also, my Peace Corps application is complete except for my resume and one reference. Woo!

My immediate-future plans have shifted a bit, too. I bought a ticket to fly down to Miami and visit family, for one thing. It happens to be over the weekend that the REI kayaking trip happens, so I won’t be doing that particular adventure. I decided against Puerto Rico. A friend from DC may come down to visit me, and I still want to go up to NYC to take part in the Occupation there, even if only for a week or two or three, perhaps spending new year’s there. Moving to DC will probably not happen in January.

One thing I need to do very soon is to cancel my plane ticket back to Turkey. I originally set up the flight back for November 30th but I’m not quite ready to set out again yet, although I’m not ruling out doing so in 2012. In fact, last night I dreamt that I was back out in the world again…

For now, I’m enjoying a week-long visit with Remi and Liz in Decatur, GA. I’ve seen four comedy shows in which my brother did stand-up comedy, which is tons of fun. My folks drive down tomorrow and we’ll all celebrate turkey day together. Then Saturday I’ll head back to Durham with the folks.

--Z