I’M BACK!!!!!!

Did you miss me?  Did you?  Do you forgive me for my 2-month absence?

I missed you guys a lot, but really needed the TIME OUT.  I’ll tell you more about it in the days to come, once I’ve figured out how this works again. 

In the mean time, what did I miss?  Do tell!

I knew it couldn’t last.  Some day I would have to go back to work again!

Hubby and I are starting a new business venture together and it looks like we’ll be pretty busy for the first few months.  (This is why we took a quick vacation… who knows when the opportunity will present itself again). 

My head is so full of “business” that I just have nothing to offer on my blog at this time.  We are of course still eating well and will be much more physically active than we’ve been for a while.  So of course those goals are still intact. 

It will be interesting to see how well I apply the stress management techniques I’ve learned over the last year.  And how well Craig and I work together.  The vacation was an eye-opener in terms of time spent together and I believe that we’ll be fine!

So, for now I’m going to say au revoir, but definitely not adieu.  If something really interesting comes up, I’ll definitely let you know, but in the meantime Fertilehealthy is hibernating.

Wish us luck!  We believe that this venture will bring us closer to our dreams.  And bless you all for the support and love you’ve shown me this past year.  I have learned so much from all of you and will miss you.

We’re home!  We arrived Saturday afternoon at about 5pm, went to sleep at about 8pm and woke up more than 16 hours later!  Late for lunch at my sister’s and totally disorientated.  This evening we went to bed at about 10pm, slept for about 2 hours and are now wide awake.  Craig has to work tomorrow, so he’s going to continue trying to sleep, but I just worry about stupid things when I can’t sleep, so I’m blogging in the dark.

I tell you, traveling is not for poor people.  One should only travel first class or business class.  There’s a reason why they call coach “cattle class” - I felt like a veal calf tethered in a crate for the 18 hours between Cape Town and New York.  Both times.  My dad said that it’s probably more comfortable than the Jews endured in the cattle cars on their way to the concentration camps, to which Craig said “Maybe, but they didn’t have to pay and they didn’t have to come back the same way”.

That’s the kind of thing that passes for humor when the feeling starts returning to your legs on the way home from the airport.

Have you noticed that all airline commercials wax lyrical about their business class seats and service?  None of them even mention the hell that is coach, where the majority (the bread and butter passengers) are confined.  That is because there is absolutely nothing redeeming to say about coach.  Nothing! 

Miraculously our luggage arrived at the same destination that we did, at the same time.  I’m waiting to hear from the good people at Guinness.

Of course, my sunny disposition was further soured on this trip by some physical discomforts.  Remember the sunburn I told you about?  On Thursday my bottom lip burst forth into two enormous oozing blisters.  Over the next few days this has crusted over, burst, bled, and oozed some more.  Fetching, I tell you.  People cover their children’s faces when they see me.

Of course, there’s a deep valley between the two blisters and every time I drink something it spills, dribbles down my chin and soils my shirt.

Then, while walking through Manhattan in a daze (after taking the Red-Eye from Seattle) I developed a huge blister under my left foot.  I have no logical explanation for this…  I was wearing old, comfortable shoes.  Needless to say, we didn’t really get the most out of our New York experience.  Craig was too grumpy from exhaustion and I limped around looking like I had messily feasted on carrion.

Back at the airport we managed to wash up a little and change into fresh clothes before boarding our flight home.  My last Starbucks purchase dotted my chest within minutes…

The air inside a plane on a long distance flight gets really disgusting.  You don’t notice it while breathing, but your hair turns limp and oily within a few hours.  And your skin gets really greasy.  At least you can wash your face, but there’s nothing you can do about your hair.  You arrive on the other side looking like a drug addict.  Add the bleeding lips and it’s little wonder that even the customs people recoil from you.  The guy wanted to look at the shopping bag in which we carried our neck pillows, but I told him that my stinky socks were in there too.  He couldn’t wave us through quickly enough.

All the presents have been distributed, there’s a whole suitcase full of dirty laundry waiting for Sarie tomorrow and soon only the credit card bills will remind us that we were ever there.  Because I’m the worst when it comes to taking pictures…   Sorry!

I can’t believe we’re almost heading home!  We really are having a fabulous time.  I love this area and would move here in a heartbeat!

My cousin’s daughter does barrel racing and pole racing, so on Sunday we went to the “rodeo” to watch her ride.  Despite wearing a hat, I got horribly sunburnt.  It was great fun though.  No amount of lessons would ever get me that proficient on a horse!  I think it’s one of those things that you’re either born with or not.  In my case it’s most definitely not!

Craig and I are still driving around all over the place and I’m becoming quite good at navigating.  The weather has been great.  We’re also lazing around a lot, which is good since he has to be back at work on Monday.  We’re leaving here tomorrow evening for an overnight flight to New York.  The gorgeous and divine DaDivaStreet has given me all the necessary information for spending a few hours in NYC.  Our flight for Cape Town leaves at 4 pm on Friday and we’re not looking forward to that!

I’ll be in the gym next week… and drinking plenty of juice!

We are having so much fun! 

We rented a car on Wednesday and have been driving all over Washington - Craig behind the wheel and me navigating.  We’re both getting better at our respective disciplines (we’re used to manual transmission and driving on the left of the road…)  Thank goodness for unlimited mileage!  I choose long, scenic and circuitous routes. 

Yesterday we stumbled upon a route with a pass called “Blewett Pass”.  We had to stop at the sign and take pictures!  A little further along we came across a restaurant and since we needed to use the restrooms we decided to stop.  And found some T-shirts with “Blewett Pass” on them, so that takes care of all the presents for Craig’s family!

We’ve done a fair bit of shopping.  I bought some winter clothes, which happened to be very, very cheap because they’re out of season.  But they’ll come in handy in Cape Town the rest of this winter.  I also got a pair of Nike trainers and a fancy new wallet.

Eating is not going so well and my body let me know last night that it’s not liking this.  I think I had a gallbladder attack.  At one stage I was crying with pain and then mercifully I was sick (again and again and again) and the pain just stopped.  So today we’re back to eating somewhat healthier.  Fortunately we found the most delicious cherries and bought a big bag of them.

We visited the Native American Cultural Heritage Center at Toppenish today and then proceeded to lose a chunk of cash in the casino. It was great fun though!

Wherever we go people want to know where we’re from.  And we laugh at their reactions when we tell them.  Craig is a wonderful travel companion, except that he doesn’t like all the ads on the radio stations.  So yesterday, on our way to Vantage on the Columbia River, he pulled into the tiny town of Kittitas to buy CD’s.  I was wondering where in Kittitas we would find CD’s, but we found a pawn shop and lo and behold, they had used CD’s.  I made the selection and we were off again.  He doesn’t like the Marianne Faithful though, saying that she “clearly has issues”.  I guess you could say that!

We were supposed to stay over in Seattle Tuesday and Wednesday, but ultimately decided to return to Yakima after the barbeque.  We love the countryside!  We didn’t love the barbeque…  South African barbeques are way better!

My cold seems to be a thing of the past and we are finally sleeping through the night.  I hope we acclimatize quicker when we get back to Cape Town!

Today we’re heading back to Seattle for a few days.  We have been warned to expect about a foot of snow on the pass.  Seeing that this is supposed to be summer, I only have summer clothes and sandals.  So we’re going to have to do some shopping!  Twist my rubber arm…

This is the first time ever I’ve traveled with someone.  In the past I was always on my own.  Let me tell you, sharing the experiences with a loved one is wonderful.  We are having a great time and Craig is cracking me up half the time. 

We went for an even longer walk last night.   It’s so nice to see cows, goats, turkeys and sheep and smell freshly mown hay while taking a walk.  We love this area!

We’re still struggling to adjust to the time difference.  I fell asleep in front of the TV just after 8pm last night and slept well when I got to bed.  Until about 2 am.  Then we were both wide awake!  We got up at 5 am and since we will be attending a barbeque this evening, we may be in for a late night.  Maybe we’ll sleep through this time.

I still have a streaming cold.  Fortunately I don’t feel too bad, so it’s not the end of the world.

We love America, but I can’t figure out why the public toilets are so …  well… public.  Why is that?  Everywhere else I’ve been you have a tiny gap at the bottom and certainly no gaps on either side of the door.  But here one is so exposed!  This may cause me irrepairable damage, because I do my best to avoid going to public restrooms!

Ahem, we’re not eating as well as we’d like, but better than I expected.  So far we’ve avoided fast food and buffets!

Lora mentioned that we were in her home state on our layover.  Well, when we were flying across America, we passed upstate New York and I thought of her.  We flew over Windsor, Canada and I thought of Manuela.   Near Chicago Michelle was on my mind.  Montana made me think of Felicia.  You guys live in a great country!

We’re here and we’ve had a great night’s sleep!  The trip was very tiring and long (18 hours from Cape Town to New York and 6 hours from NYC to Seattle).  We are currently in the Yakima area and have already had a nice long country walk.  Today we’ll be exploring the area.

It’s great to see my relatives and we’re having a wonderful time!

I seem to have picked up a slight cold, but am doctoring myself with barley grass juice.  I should be fine!

More later!

Finally!  We’re leaving this evening!  Needless to say, we are very excited…

Next blogpost will be from America!

Thanks for all the kind wishes and sorry for being so scarce.

Just a quick word to let you know that our ADSL (and phone!) line is down and I’m unable to blog right now.  Hopefully it will get fixed before we leave for the States on Saturday!  Otherwise I’ll see if I can get to an internet cafe…  My week looks as if it’s going to be hectic though.

One of my former colleagues passed away yesterday (asthma attack) so I will be going to the funeral too.  We’re all very shocked and sad.  Her death so upset her daughter (of course) that she went into labor about a month prematurely.  I think it must be terrible to have your child’s birthday on the same day as your mother’s death.

Have a great week everybody!  Only five more sleeps until we go to America!  I’m not one of those jaded travelers - this is all very exciting for me!

I saw this video a couple of months ago and have been looking for it ever since. This is important information!

A while ago I showed you the trailer for the movie “Food Matters”. The full 80 minute movie has now been released on DVD for $29.95 and can also be viewed online for $4.95. I strongly recommend this movie!

Sage Mommy is boycotting Subway for their exclusion of home-schooled children from their competitions. There is a link to a petition on her blog. As someone who believes in homeschooling, I support this petition with all my heart.

I know, I know! I’ve been a bad blogger this week! Who knows, I may do better next week, although I don’t think I’ll be online much this weekend. My friend Lizana is visiting and we’ve got a stack of American Idol videos to get through (she doesn’t get the channel it was on). Just the ticket for a rainy weekend! As is this soup I’m making for tomorrow night.

Hearty Winter Soup

1 leek, finely sliced

2 carrots, coarsely grated

1 turnip, coarsely grated

2 smallish potatoes, coarsely grated

4-6 spinach leaves, coarsely shredded

1 cup cauliflower or broccoli florets

2 celery sticks, chopped (including leaves)

2-4 tsp herb salt

½ cup barley

1 ½-2 liters of water

1 tin tomato puree

Dry stir fry the vegetables and salt until light golden in color.  Add the barley and water and simmer gently for 40-50 minutes.  Stir in the tomato puree and serve.

Have a great weekend!