The Aunties Party...

So today I hosted my big shindig for the aunties at the Eban House to thank them for all they do for the kids and to show my appreciation especially for how far they have helped Selina to come since she entered the home in January.

I arrived at the house about 10 am and then Abigail (who works in the office) and I went to get the food for the party. That may sound like an easy task but it took us over two hours. Yes,I bought chicken and fried rice from Southern Fried Chicken for the ladies as well as a soda and to get a taxi to get us there, have it made and bring it back took about two hours. Our taxi driver insisted on going to the Southern Fried Chicken (picture a big Kentucky Fried Chicken with pizza, sandwiches, ice cream etc) that was in Tema because he thought traffic was bad to go to the one that is closer. So we went to SFC in Tema for a total of $17 round trip- I thought it was kind of funny that I paid $17 and spent two hours to basically go to KFC in Ghana! I didn't picture that happening before I left but today it seemed totally normal and not surprising!

It was a beautiful overcast day and the drive was lovely. We drive along the beach on the drive to Tema which I loved. We also passed the church where Father Fran was the priest from 1988 to 1996 (Our Lady of Mercy) and where he retired from. Of course I did not have my camera as I did not think to bring it to buy chicken so I did not get a picture!

We arrived back at the home and started the party at two. About 10 aunties were there at the beginning and a few more joined as it progressed. We did this while the kids napped. We started with lunch. I brought my Ipod and docking station and so I put on some music that I thought the aunties would enjoy. As I returned to the table they were looking at me kind of strange. Then one of them (I have to get her name as she is in the office and is a hoot) all of a sudden says, "Are we dancing?" not in a happy way but in a way that I realized they were all afraid I was going to insist we dance since I was the one that brought the chicken dance, hokey pokey and electric slide to the home. I assured them that we only dance at the "night parties" and that they were safe. I think they were relieved.

After lunch I showed them all the supplies I had brought including about a dozen polishes, emery boards, foot files, lotions, buffing blocks, nail brushes, cutical things, etc. Some of them were a little quiet at first but within about 30 minutes everyone was doing nails. Most of them did each others nails.



One of the aunties Ruth, told me she wanted me to do hers so I gave her my best full on pedicure. As soon as she got up, another auntie sat down so over the next few hours, I did four pedicures! Muna who is in charge at the home spent about an hour and a half doing a manicure and pedicure on the funny one who will have a name tomorrow as soon as I get it. She did a diagonal pattern with half her nail pink and half a purple. Did I mention I had greens, purples, silver, gold as well as the standard reds, browns and peach polishes?



I also had brought some Jelly Belly jelly beans to share with them although once we started touching our feet not many were eaten- I don't think (I was too busy doing my pedicures). I will have to remember not to serve finger foods if I ever hostess an appreciation pedicure party again.

All in all, I think the party was a success. I know that Auntie Comfort loved the way I massaged her feet- (don't get any crazy ideas about me massaging feet TR- this was a once in a lifetime thing I did here!!) she just kept thanking me!



I just want to say that for some of the aunties that work in the Eban House, to do this is not easy. One was telling me how she travels two hours each way to get there. She leaves by six am and takes three different taxis for two hours in traffic to arrive to work by 8 or 8:30 and then when the day is over, she takes three more taxis to get back home. She does this because she likes her job and enjoys working in the adoption field. She would like to go to school to get a degree in Marketing but for now, is happy to be working for our adoption agency as she earns money for school. Can you imagine taking three taxis to get to work and having the trip take two hours? I would say it is unbelievable but it is the reality for at least two of the women I have met so far...

So to the aunties... As I said after we prayed over our Southern Fried Chicken...
On behalf of the other mothers who I have already heard sing your praises and for myself, we want to thank you for all you do for our children. I am especially grateful for what you have done for Selina. She came to you unable to walk and you cared for her, fed her and loved her. She is the girl she is today because you were here and because you made a difference. This is something I will never forget and will always be thankful for. So this party is for you!

On my own...

Molly left early this morning. Edward and Percy came to get her which was nice. They were not planning on coming back towards our guesthouse and so I said goodbye and she drove off. I will miss her as it was so wonderful to have your best friend with you to talk to. I did send her with my picture card from the camera and so my pictures are at least headed home! She took a video of when I first met Selina and I was so thankful as I watched it as it is so obvious she initially wanted nothing to do for me. Her body language could not be saying "go away" any clearer and now she will easily come to see me.

Last night she moved into the phase where she has decided that I belong to her and no other kid can sit on my lap. Thoroughout the evening, she came over and pulled four different kids off my lap. Sometimes it was so she could sit there and other times it was just so when she looked over from across the room, my lap was vacant. It was funny to see her face when she saw someone on my lap. She got this look like "watch out". They were watching a movie and sometimes she would come sit on my lap and point to the TV and I would tell her what we were looking at and she would try to say the words herself. Sometimes she would just lay back and I would sing the "Barney Song" and she would just move her head to the beat. I give her a kiss during the song and a few times, she would put her lips to my face immediately afterwards. She was eating a juicy fruit of some sort at the time and so I ended up with a sticky face with fruit pulp on it- it was beautiful! At other times, she was happy to sit across the room but she would look over to see what I was doing. TR- make sure we have a Dora DVD on hand as she really loves to look at Dora and that is a word that she can say pretty well!

Now that she has learned that the word "more" makes things happen, she loves to use it. I lift her up high to get closer to the fan and she leans her head back, laughs and says "more". That is a hard one as doing this about 20 times in five minutes gets a bit tiring!! It is neat as I remember when Kman and Cater were at this point in learning to communicate. I am looking forward to getting a few different words to stick. You can see that she is trying to learn and absorb so much that she will forget a word the next day that I had taught her previously.

Selina does still have her moments. She will get upset about something and start crying. Since people don't like to really see crying here, you can tell that the staff is a little distressed when she cries and tries to do whatever to make her happy. Molly and I found it interesting as she was tired last night and a bit weepy over little things. At one point she was crying because she could not have Molly's camera. She started crying. I tried to distract her with something else but it was not working. An auntie came over and basically pleaded with her to stop crying and then wiped the tears from her eyes with her hands. Selina stopped as instantly as the tears were wiped almost as if with the tears gone, it was over. Molly and I couldn't believe it. She came over and started talking to me like nothing had just happened! I told Molly that this will probably not work for me in the states but I sure will try!

It is a new adventure everyday going to see Selina. I am so thankful for the progress that we have made. She is at a point where sometimes she wants an auntie and sometimes she wants me. I did not know if that would happen prior to me leaving the home with her and so I am so encouraged!

Thursday was truely a beautiful day and so I look forward to see what today brings...

Jennine

You (and Percy) did it!!!

Um, Hello, WE HAVE A PASSPORT!! WOO HOO! I could not believe it came the day after I asked for prayers for it. Percy came to pick us up this afternoon and the first thing he says is, "I have a passport!" I repeated, "you have it?" twice and then I started cheering. First I got a little teary eyed but they are not crazy about tears here so I instead said, "Percy, I could pick you up, twirl you around and give you a big hug right now!!" He laughed at that one. What great news! Now I just need my I600 and then I can apply for the visa! Yea!

Today was Molly's last day. We went to the art market in Osu as she really wanted to check it out. It was not super busy but the merchants all talk to you at the same time and want you to visit their booth. I felt rude but you cannot possibly visit every booth and talk to everyone that talks to you when five are doing so simultaneously! I picked up a few things as did Molly so that was fun.

After that we went to lunch at Frankies which is a sit down place with very American food. I had heard that Anita loves Frankies so I thought we would go there to celebrate. Molly and I split a burger and fries. The place had many Americans and visitors and I actually found that I did not like that as much. I kind of missed being the only white person. It felt weird to be in a room with so many white people in Africa. Lunch was good and the place had airconditioning so that was nice.

After that we went and purchased some things to donate to a local orphanage that is a block away from Eban House. This house has about 25 kids and is actually the home that held our first kids in the program while Eban House was located. I recognized the place from pictures. It was nice to see the kids. They sang for us and were so sweet. One boy about six sat next to me the entire time and just touched me. It was obvious he is not used to white people and had to touch me. He then got interested in the moles on my arms and so I explained that sometimes white people have little moles. He decided to count the moles on my arms and apparantly there are over 115 although he did count some numerous times. He started raising my sleeve and such so we had to stop at the 115 and call it good.

Before we left I told the kids that I loved hugs and wanted to give a big hug to any kid that wanted one. A few came up immediately to claim their hug while others looked at me realizing that I am slightly crazy!! It was cute because by the end, pretty much everyone had requested their hugs!

I am bummed as Molly leaves in the morning. It was great having her and I will miss her so much!

I have a lot to get ready for as I am hosting a party for all the aunties from the Eban House tomorrow afternoon. Before I left America I bought about a dozen nail polishes and manicure/pedicure sets and goodies to go with it. I got green, purple, and silver along with the normal colors. We will be having a special lunch that I am buying for them and then painting our tootsies. It will be a great way to thank them for all they do for the kids and have done especially for Selina. I am excited to see how the party goes. I am hoping it will be a hit. I am prepared to paint toes for those that haven't done it before or can't reach them for one reason or another so this should be a hoot! I will also leave all the polishes and stuff behind for them to share or use there- whatever they want!

That is it for now as I want to go hang out with Tenille!!

Jennine

Captain and Tenille

A story from the coast...

At the coast, the staff was really nice. The guards were especially friendly to us as we would see them by the pool, on the walkway or when we went on the beach. There was one guard named John that Molly made friends with when she was by the beach one day waiting to meet up with me (I was on the internet).

When I got over John started asking me questions as he would like to be a teacher and he was excited to find out that I am in education. I answered his question and encouraged him to go for it and reach his dreams.

We saw John several times over the next few days and said "goodbye" to him a few times as we kept thinking we were leaving.

On our last day, I had walked back to the room for a moment by myself and encountered John on the walk. He came up to me and was all excited. Our conversation went like this...

John: I heard that you are the captain of the boat.
Me: What
John: I heard that you are the captain of the boat, I want to be on your boat.
Me: What boat.
John: The boat, you are the captain. I want to be on your boat. I would like for you to hire me to work for you on your boat.
Me: laughing... You don't want to be on my boat? It is crazy on my boat!
John: I am very serious. I want to be a teacher and I want to come to America and to work on your boat.
Me: I am sorry, I am a teacher but I do not hire the people that work for us. I can't hire anyone. I do know though that you will be a great worker for whatever boat you work on...

It always makes me sad to hear people want to come to America. We have so much in comparison that it is hard when people say these things to us. Especially someone so kind and who seems to be such a hard worker. He is working as a guard to save up money to go to school to be a teacher. You wish that everyone had the opportunities that you have had. At the same time though, it is not wonderful for everyone in America and there are many poor here but people from other countries don't see that. They see the people that can afford to go to Africa that have enough to live come there. They think that we have it all in America and that life is wonderful there. In comparison, it seems that it is much easier as these people work so hard for so little.

I encouraged John to keep up the hard work and to keep going for his dream of being a teacher. I think he would be a fabulous teacher and I told him to keep studying. He really wanted to contact us but we took his email address instead. I wished him well.

Now I had to go back to Molly to inform her that people think that I am the captain of our ship.

I told Molly that it appears that I am the captain of our ship. She said she had heard of this from someone before but did not know what it meant and if they think we really have a ship or if it is a metaphor.

I told her that I thought it must be a metaphor and that for some reason, people think between her and I that I am the boss- hence the title Captain. I then explained that if that were the case that she can be Tenille from the singing duo "Captain and Tenille" from the 1970's. I also said that they sing a song called "Bananas" or something like it that basically says, "Bananas, bananas, I think I'm going, bananas, bananas, I think I'm going bananas" That will be our theme song on our ship.

So since then, that is our theme song and we are Captain and Tenille. I have had to ask her to grab a few things for me when I was holding Selina or because I wanted to borrow or have something of hers (ie a soduku puzzle) so I will say, "Tenille, can you please give me a ...."

It has given us a good chuckle and reminded me of the times when my sister and I were young that we would listen to that album and dance around the house all crazy to the "bananas" song!!

Just thought I'd share this morning as I am still thinking about our encounters with John and what a kind young man he is...

We are leaving soon, hopefully to do a donation to a local orphanage and to go to the market for a little shopping. It is slightly raining on and off as it has been all night so it is pleasant out but that will soon be replaced by humidity... so the forecast calls for more sweating!!! Surprise! :-)

Jennine

Wednesday Night

Molly and I returned from a seven hour visit to the Eban House, it was wonderful. We got to spend some time with some of the children and get to learn more about them and so that was really nice. The most rewarding thing was that Selina and I had a fabulous day. Here are some of the highlights:

*She now says "more" she wanted some of my water and I gave it to her and would not give her more until she said more. She learned this quickly and now walks around saying more when she wants something instead of pointing and making nonsense verbalizations.

*She raised her hands for me to pick her up and so I did and held her. She put her head down and fell asleep on my shoulder. It was so sweet and so I sat down on the couch with her this way for about an hour. I can't believe how easily she fell asleep-truely amazing. Neither Kman or Cater did this at that age.

*She let me carry her several times. I taught the kids the electric slide holding her the entire time.

*She learned that the "fan" is above her and so if I say fan she looks up. I said "van" when they came back from a trip out and she immediately looked at the fan.

*Taught her to say "Dora" she showed me the video and within a few minutes she was able to say Dora.

*At lunch she ate holding the fork herself (it is usually held for her). I fed her lunch and dinner by scooping it for her at lunch and allowing her to put it in her own mouth. They were having banku and a thicker soup and so the banku stayed on the spoon well (banku is a kind of almost raw doughy bread) which made it a good choice to practice on. The red/orange soup was another matter. Basically she needed a bath and to be changed by the end of the meal which probably did not excite the staff but what can you say when I say "Look how fabulous is this, Selina used the spoon on her own. What a great accomplishment. She got a little dirtied but wow, how great is this?" So we cleaned her up. For dinner we scooped food together and I helped focus on how she held the fork. It was a success. She also ran out of water. Molly offered to get her more as she was getting some for Ishi. I said, "no, Selina will ask when she wants some." About a minute later, Selina noticed her water was gone and tossed her cup. Then she looked at me and said "more". I said "Go get the cup and I will get more". She got the cup, I got her more water.

*I went in with her to bathe twice and we learned the word light, played "this little piggy", and said "honk" when I squeezed her nose and she squeezed mine. I changed her and put her shoes on.

She is really loving to learn more words and looks to me now to teach her what things mean. She is not remembering all of the words day to day but is loving to hear the words for things. She can produce a lot of the sounds and that is great. She has some crying spells when she has a need and can't get it met but they don't get worse, she calms down within a minute or so. I am not used to that!

It was a really nice day!

Edward stopped by to see us and I think all is well regarding us leaving early. He is taking us to make a donation tomorrow at a local orphanage and then we are going to the Accra market. It is Molly's last day as she leaves early Friday morning so we want to get these two things done. I will really miss her but I have been lucky to have her with me as long as she has been!

Back in Accra

Hello,
First of all, congratulations to Kman!! His recreation baseball team, The Red Sox, won the championship Tuesday night! They were seeded number 6 out of 8 and beat the number one seeded team! I love it when the underdogs win and am so happy that these boys did it! What an accomplishment! I am so proud of Kman for having a hit and for catching a foul ball over his shoulders- Kman- You rock buddy! I was cheering here in Africa for you!! RED SOX RULE!! You little baseball dude you!! I tried to call at 4 am (which would have been right after the game) to talk to Kman to see how the game went but my phone needed a card and so I couldn't! I got two cards today and so I will be calling you guys! I love you Cater and can't wait to talk to you! I miss you so much and hope you are having fun with Grandpa today!

Molly and I finally made it back to Accra! It involved us having to make a difficult decision. We left on Tuesday without Edward. His car had been in the shop since Saturday and we were supposed to leave on Sunday morning. On Sunday he was supposed to meet him for breakfast at 7am and he called at 6:20 and said that the car was not ready and it was broken and could we stay another night. We said that was fine and layed by the pool all day Sunday and relaxed.
On Monday we were supposed to meet at 11am to leave and he showed up at 12:30 and explained that the car was in the shop and asked if we could stay until Tuesday and that we would leave then. He said that he was going to have Percy (the driver) come to Cape Coast and after dropping Chalene off and that we would go back on Tuesday with him or him and Percy. We were not thrilled about staying one more day but it seemed for sure that we would leave on Tuesday and that Percy was coming and so we said that was fine.
We offered to treat the two of them to breakfast on Tuesday and so we had plans to meet at breakfast at 7am. We sat at breakfast until 8 and then sat in the lobby until 9 and then went to the room and he called at 10. I guess he cancelled having Percy come because he thought the car was better and when he went to drive it that morning it there was another problem and so he took it back to the shop. At 10 he said that we would be ready to go in two hours.
We waited in the room until 1pm and had not heard from him. We really did not want to stay another night and we knew that Edward would not want to drive in the dark and would not want to leave much past 2pm.
His phone was "locked" and so we could not call him but had to wait for him to call us this whole time. So we were faced with staying another night possibly or having Edward drive us in a car that was straight from the shop that may or may not be fixed with no phone (Chalene had mine so we did not have one either)to call anyone if there was a problem.
We asked at the front desk if they had a driver and they said they have used the same driver for 11 years and he is safe, his car is rented and he has airconditioning. We could leave in 10 minutes.
We decided to do this. We figured that this way Edward did not have to worry about us and could leave the coast whenever the car was fixed and he felt safe to. Edward felt so bad for the inconvienence and has been so kind to us, we know this was difficult on him.
I should also mention that I had a problem with something I ate Monday night and was having to use the restroom more than usual that morning. I was scared to death to leave but ate only bread for breakfast and at one o clock, I felt that I could safely go the four hours without stopping on the side of the road to do my thing. Remember there are no McDonalds here to go potty at! Did I mention that in America that I don't even like to use public restrooms so trying to go on the side of the road is several steps beyond my comfort zone. I was afraid that if I ate more, I could get worse and so the time to go was now.
So we hired the driver, paid the rest of the hotel bill and told them to give Edward the message and left... I can only tell this part as it is over and I am okay now mom!! :-)
The safe, airconditioned ride actually had no airconditioning and we had to listen to blasting talk radio most of the way but thankfully we made it into Accra before this man's car broke down. Yes you read right, it basically died on the road and he coasted into a gas station. We then had to unload our things and get a taxi to take us the rest of the way to Teshie Nungua.
So we arrived back at Rye Manor and thanked God. We went straight to Eban House so we could let them know we made it back so they could get a message to Edward. I guess his car did end up working and he also made it back to Accra that evening. I am happy of that and we knew it was a possibility. If we did not leave though, we feel it would not have worked out that way and we would have stayed another night. We felt that we would make the wrong choice whatever we did but one would have us in Accra and one would have us at the hotel. So the good news is that the three of us are back in Accra!!
It was just a very difficult decision to make to leave like that. I was missing Selina, Molly was going a little stir crazy and there were a few things she wanted to do before she leaves Friday morning.
The good news of this is that when I went to the Eban House, I had the best time yet with Selina. I held her a few times. She said "mama" and we laughed. I fed her again and we played games as she ate. I taught the kids the "Chicken Dance" before I left and if I started humming it, Selina would start waving her arms like a chicken! I was showing the aunties and they were laughing very hard. It was very cute.
It actually felt for the first time the closest I have felt to being her mom. It is very hard and I had a LONG time at the coast to think and worry about it but it is difficult when the child that comes to you the least and wanted nothing to do with you is the one you are taking home. Everyone else would sit on my lap and talk and play with me and Selina is by far the hardest to get through to. I can tell myself again and again that it will work out and feel confident that it will in time but that doesn't mean that it is still emotionally draining when you are trying to be with your child in front of all these people at the home and it is difficult. So to have had those moments last night were really so needed for me. Especially after a rough day of having to make the decision to leave, the car breaking down and not feeling well. They put a video on and Selina sat in my lap for awhile and pointed and got so excited at what was on the "tele". She will like to watch movies which will be fun as Cater does also. I can picture them laying down on our big bean bag watching movies together. Selina has quite the personality and is a little ham. I have a feeling that once she settles in and sees what she does that people find cute, that she will be doing that all the time! She also loves to have her picture taken. I have a few of her opening her eyes really wide and smiling really big. They are precious.
So I still don't know anything on the 1600 which is the paperwork I am sitting here waiting to be processed. I think Percy will call today. I have another problem though that I did not think would be a problem that is turning out to be a definite concern. I don't have Selina's passport. This is something that was supposed to come "the next day" since a few weeks before I came. The odds given to me about getting it in time were in the high 90's and so I came. Well now it appears the man that signs the passports is not at his desk for some reason and that is all we are waiting for. I can't file the visa without it so at this point if I do get the I600 it doesn't do me much good. My update yesterday from Mona was a "maybe this week" which is the worst projection yet. If my I600 is actually done in 10 working days, it would be done by next Tuesday or Wednesday. Now remember when I get the I600 and passport, I am not home free- I still need to apply for the visa. Visa's are only issued on Fridays so if I get the paperwork in early enough in the week it may be done that Friday, if not, the next Friday. That is where I am at paperworkwise. Please say a prayer for the passport as I am concerned about that now. I cannot control this situation so I only can wait and see how it works out and have faith.

Monday STILL AT THE COAST!!

Okay, it is Monday and it appears that we will be here another day. Again, this place is beautiful but I was looking so forward to getting back and seeing Selina and the kids at Eban House and to start working on my donations.

Molly and I got up had breakfast, checked out of the hotel and waited in the lobby for Edward, and waited and waited and waited. He walked up about an hour or so late and we knew by the absence of the car, this was not a good sign for our return trip.

So the car may take longer than anticipated so Percy the other driver will come to the coast tonight after he drops Chalene off at the airport. We will leave early in the morning. Molly and I will treat the two of them to a good breakfast first! This means that I will not get to see Chalene before she leaves which also bums me out. The sadder thing though is that Edward is a hard working man and we feel bad as he feels so badly about all of this. He could not stop apologizing and we know this repair is costing him more money. He offered to pay for our hotel the extra two nights but of course we will not allow him to do this.

So Molly and I took our stuff back to the room and waved another hello to all the staff we just had said goodbye to! We got on our shoes and went for a hike along the beach to the Elmina Castle. It is also a holiday here in Ghana so there were many people playing on the beach. Many people appoached us and said hello. Everyone was kind. Some people asked us for things but I did not want to start handing things out and draw a crowd. There was a cute kid wearing a Ghana shirt of the flag and so I asked to take his picture. He asked for something and so I gave him a Clif energy bar which seemed to excite him. He walked off smiling with his bar. Another kid approached us and wanted us to take his picture as he saw our camera. I said of course and so he went to smile and then all of a sudden made me stop while he got his dead fish from the bucket. It was his catch and he wanted it in the picture. It was lovely. Then he immediately wanted to see the picture but I let him know that he could see it after he returned the dead fish with the eyes that looked at me back to the bucket!!

Molly and I spent five hours at the pool yesterday looking at the waves on the beach and will be returning there now as we are hot from our walk.

I did not let people know that they can read about Chalene's trip at www.my7passions.blogspot.com. She lives five minutes away and is adopting two sweet twin girls from the Eban House. She is doing two trips instead of one long one like me so she has been in Ghana the last week. She did report today that Selina is getting more comfortable with her and her sister and seems especially willing to be held and played with at night (she is probably too tired to resist!) so it looks like I will need to plan to be there in the evening!

To Laurel and Cheri- I will pass your message on to Edward. He is wonderful and will be glad to hear all is well with you! To Kristin Jag- no latte, no tea- I am sorry to report that I am in a sort of "detox" if you will. I miss my tea from Wildflower Bread Company and my ice coffees so much but lets look at the bright side only three or so more weeks to go!! :-)

I do want to mention some of my favorite things that I am glad I brought for future families that will travel here:
My neck pillow from Target. I have used this to sleep on the plane in the airport terminal and I use it at the hotels as they provide one pillow and I am a two or three pillow girl!
My Ipod alarm clock docking station. I bought this last minute at Walmart for about $35 for my ipod and I can't tell you how much joy it brings me plus it has the time and an alarm. It is small and easy to use. I can't tell you how happy I am with it!
The Mary Kay Facial Cloths my mom threw in my pile last minute. I just used the last one but they were awesome as they were basically disposable washcloths. They do not give you washcloths here and those cloths did not have any soap or substance on them so I was able to use my facial cleanser and body cleanser on them. Thanks mom!!
Energy Bars: They really eat only twice a day here and so sometimes in the afternoon you can get a little hungry. I got the clif ones from Costco. To this point, this is the only bit of chocolate I have had that is dark and yummy. I was brilliant to get ones with chocolate- in them as they don't melt. Edward had his first one the other day and really seemed to like it so if you are with him, don't forget to pack him one!

What I wish I would have brought:
A sleep sheet: Molly has one and it is basically two sheets sewn together and you sleep in it. I do not have one. I don't like to sleep all in the covers so I sleep on the bed with a blanket. The one at Rye Manor is a little warm and it has lots of fishing like strings as it is coming apart and so when I get in bed if I don't turn it the right way, my toes get caught up in the strings. One night I went to get out of bed and all these strings were attached to my toes and started making the trip to the bathroom with me!
Hankerchief- Don't remember if it is on the list of things to bring but you will sweat unlike you have ever sweat before and so a nice hankerchief would do you good!

To Kman and Cater- I hope you had a good day with Aunt Julie and that you are feeling better Cater. I love you both and will call you when I get back to Rye Manor!

Happy Memorial Day

Jennine