It's April Fool's Day and I only have a week left to finish my to do list before departure. This has been a time-consuming activity preparing for this extended trip.
Yesterday, I spent the morning having some expensive dental repair work done. This is what I get for being conscientious about bi-annual checkups and cleaning! I was due for x-rays and I seriously considered putting it off until the fall to save money and time. When my hygienist suggested that I would probably want to avoid seeking treatment for a tooth ache in a foreign country, I reluctantly agreed to having the expensive panoramic x-ray to look for "pockets" of decay hidden from routine examination. Of course, that's exactly what was hiding underneath the gum of my upper back molars. Darn it! I''m not happy about the finding, but I am happy to have dealt with it now. I also needed to have some bonding done to strengthen my front teeth that are thinning from the ravages of time. Today, I'm smiling with confidence.
I also took advantage of a warm day last Friday and wore flip flops to the mall where I got a much needed pedicure and polish for my toes in anticipation of many days of sandal wearing in the tropics.
What was not on my checklist was a rhino virus--head cold, that struck over the weekend. Sunday, I stayed in and sipped many cups of hot tea and cider and ice water to flush out the virus. I am much improved now, but the three hours of dental work yesterday with my swollen sinuses resistant to breathing made me think of water boarding as I fought off the sensation of drowning!
Last week I also conducted orientation for my dear friends who are taking on the responsibilities of cat care, plants and sundry tasks to maintain order in my absence. I'm leaving three typed pages of instructions. I am stockpiling cat food and litter, and will set up a new third litter box to keep the kitties happy (and my carpets pristine).
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Angel & Spook supervise transport
of cat litter upstairs via the stairlift. |
My mail will be forwarded to Beverly's house and I'm suspending my ATT internet and TV service, and my magazine subscriptions. I'm behind on my subscription reading and will be carrying at least 5 TIME mags and 3 Smithsonians with me to read on the long flights over. Aron might appreciate seeing those anyway. I have my cash to carry with me and a money belt to secure it, and I have notified my credit card companies that I will be out of the country so they will not deny charges I might make. (This happened with one card last summer despite my advance notice because they had an old address on record. The devil is in the details....It's also why I take more than one credit card.)
I will have my Google Nexus 7 Android tablet with me and anticipate ready access to the Internet, so after I arrive in Singapore I plan to suspend my Verizon phone service. If you dial my number, you'll get a message that my service is not available. Please use my email addresses (AOL or gmail), if you care to reach me....or submit a comment on the blog. Comments do not get published without my approval, so....don't get cute! ;)
I haven't worn a watch in years since my cell phone displays the time. It occurred to me that without cell service on the flight over, I need a timepiece that I can use to count down the endless hours and orient me to the correct time. I have several inexpensive watches, all with dead batteries, so I selected my favorite and had a new battery put in. Voila!
It's a lady bug that I have clipped onto my carry-on shoulder bag for easy access. Now, all that is left to do (I think...I hope) is finish packing and figure out what to wear on the trip. It has to be long pants to hide the compression stockings I will wear! That was a lesson learned the hard way. (See last summer's blog for explanation!)
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