R and R before I leave

In Seattle with my children, husband, and dog celebrating Christmas and kicking back a little. Weighed the suitcases yesterday and I underweight woopee. I can even add a pound of coffee - YES! Got a badly needed massage, went to the Whatcom county museum and enjoyed the 1934 Public Works artists on display and the arts and crafts homes of Bellingham. Tomorrow the boys are going to airplane museum and Darcy and I are going somewhere else. Then we'll all have dinner with my daughter and her partner at a Thai restruant in Mt Vernon. Working on the weather in the EAST - no snow please!!!

Ready to Leave Spokane

Well everything is packed into two suitcases, one backpack and a briefcase. Everything fits in the car with Josey's kennel so she can come with us to Seattle. (I am happy about that I will miss her nearly as much as I will miss my husband). It feels sad to leave my home and know I won't be back for 7 months. I savored the snowcovered view of Brown's Mtn from my bed this morning and I've wandered through my house remembering the things I love about it. I think I have finally finished everything that I must do before I leave but I expect I will discover something I forgot. So tonight I sleep in my own bed for the last time in many months and leave drive to Seattle hopefully before the snow falls too much.

Packing - or trying to pack

Well today was the day I decided to try to figure out what I needed to take with me. So I emptied my closets and brought in the stack of odds and ends I knew I'd need like flashlights, extra headlamp, sewing kit, etc and started sorting on my king size bed. Then I called my husband in and he said - "You can't take all that!" Then we decided I had to go buy a new black skirt since the one I had was too heavy and nearly everything I had in the pile went with black. So off I went to the Mall (first time this season). I got there early enought so it wasn't too bad. When I got home I began to cull the pile. Finally I had reduced the pile and moved it by categories: blouses, skirts, etc to the queen sized bed, where I got rid of a few more things. Tomorrow I'll see what fits in the bags. Seven months is a long time!!

It's been hard saying farewell to my good buddies and I was so touched when my wonderful hairdresser Renee was nearly in tears when I left her today after my last haircut before my departure.

So tonight i am normalizing by making cookies for the holidays. I haven't got time for it but I don't have time not to.

Getting ready to go

With less than a month before I leave for Malawi I am getting busier by the minute. I still have to finish grades for my classes here, clean up my office so Vickie, who will cover my clinical for me has a place to work and can find things. Then there is Christmas which up until now I have been ignoring because I don't have time for it yet. I am not a list maker but at 430AM today I decided I really need to make one - too many details to get ready. I did go to California last weekend to say farewell to my sisters and brother, nieces and nephews. This weekend I must finish laying a floor and start working on the LIST!!!
I have been invited to stay in the Dean's guest wing when I go to Malawi and that really relieved me of concern at least for the first few days. I can stay longer if I want and I likely will do that but will have to negotiate a fee. The books for Malawi have been shipped and I collected an extra rolling duffel bag while I was in California - how will I get everything I need into 100#?

Introduction

I am an Associate Clinical Professor of Nursing at Washington State University in Spokane, WA USA. I have the honor to be selected as a Fulbright Scholar teaching at the Kamuzu College of Nursing University of Malawi, Lilongwe beginning in Jan 2011. This blog will describe my adventures. This blog is not an official Fulbright Program blog and the views expressed are mine and not those of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State or any of its partner organizations. Look for posts beginning in December as I prepare for departure.