Heck of a Week!

Still getting ready to go, still saying lots of goodbyes.  Last Sunday, it was goodbye to my almost 12 year old black lab/weimarener cross who very suddenly started showing signs of a turned stomach. It took me 10 minutes to realize it was serious, 10 minutes to get her to emergency vet and an excruciating what seems like both forever and very, very short, period of time to determine that she was much sicker than we thought and I had to let her go.  She probably was full of cancer.  She got to run and fetch the ball that afternoon, eat a nice dinner and cuddle on the couch all day before this happened, so I guess that is as good an ending as can be expected.  Meanwhile my tragically chronically ill 11 year old cat George Burns Jr is taking a nose dive THIS week and may have diabetes, kidney, liver failure or all three. He does everything with a bang!  These were the two of my pets who were the most problematic to foster out during my Peace Corps stint because of behavioral and illness issues. I guess they are both trying to make this easier on me by getting sick now, but I am walking around with that feeling you get in your face and eyes and whole body that people call grief.  Yeah, that's what it is. 

Meanwhile, back to work tomorrow. Counting this week I have 7 more weeks of full time work before I am off to get ready for Botswana.  May do some odd hours here and there since my replacement hasn't been found yet, but mostly it will be about getting my house and stuff organized so I can rent the house and store the stuff. Which I could rent the stuff and store the house. Sigh. 

While at the gym today I was grateful to an older gentleman (ok, older than me, but then maybe not that much older) who said that Botswana was a wonderful country and he had enjoyed being there.  We talked a bit and the conversation helped me to refocus and remember that I CAN do this, despite all the complications of being a middle-aged woman with a house, etc.Many,  many people my age put together the complicated puzzle associated with travel overseas (power of attorneys, renting house, hiring CPA, storing stuff, etc. ) whether for PC or not, and I can do it and it will all work out.  Even my pets, in their loving, sefless, slightly misguided (or not?) ways are trying to lighten my load. 

All is well, all will be well.  Looking for other Bots 11s to connect with too! Can't find that face book page - yet!! 

Here I am!

Well, now that I am definitely going to Botswana on or around April 1, 2011, things are really getting serious.  I have just over 3 months before I leave and have a house to rent, animals to foster, a job to leave (but not before training my replacement a bit), and lots of good byes.  Since I work wtih mostly older people, I have started thinking and wondering which of my elderly friends will be around when I come back.  Life is so uncertain no matter what age, but the older we get, the less likely we have lots of years ahead of us.  Those goodbyes will be the hardest of all my friends, I think. 

I am saying goodbye already to a relatively new friend, my blog "msmaggieinsenegal" who will be come dormant but that's where i started my journey in blogsville.

I am hoping to start connecting with people who are also going to botswana in April, but so far haven't seen a facebook page. will keep looking.