Getting Ready

My intent today was to get up early, drive to Walmart (open at 7:30 a.m.) and buy a USB cable. I am sure I bought one last year to download my photos of Europe, but it must be in a very safe place because I couldn’t find it. I’m sure I looked everywhere possible and although I found any number of cords, none had the right end to connect to my camera. I heard the 7:00 news but rolled over, just for a minute. When I looked at my clock again, it was 8:30. I didn’t know I was that slow rolling over and back!

The shopping trip is now on hold. Gila is picking me up at noon but if I hurry, I might still have the time to shop. Thank goodness I had made a list of everything that had to be done before leaving last night, because I know it wouldn’t have been written at when I am on a time limit. First, check what I packed. Remove anything that might make the suitcase a little lighter. Then check the Santa sack. Mia’s birthday present – check.Josh’s birthday present for Ash – check. Gifts for Clove – check. Gifts for Hazel – check. Gifts for Ash – check.  Sudoku puzzles – check. Shabbat candles (Do you know how heavy 72 candles are?) – check. Hang up the clothes being left behind. Collect all the garbage from the second floor – check. Vacuum the second floor. Well, maybe I’ll leave the vacuuming for the end of the list in case I run out of time. Time to get dressed. Oh no! I have to go through the suitcase again. I packed my travelling outfit!

Now my downstairs to do’s. Pack medication and a change of underwear in my knapsack. Transfer what I need from my purse and wallet to the knapsack. I’ll separate the cards I don’t need to bring when everything else is done. (I believe a theme is developing.) My meds for the day are already packed so I need to rummage through my bag to find them. I haven’t had breakfast yet. That can’t wait until my list is complete. The iPhone beeps. There is an upgrade but not enough memory left. You’d think that could wait, but you would be wrong. It doesn't take much to distract me from the vacuuming job waiting for me, I decide to make the space now. I download the pictures from the phone. I trash all 142 messages and 57 voicemail messages. I start to delete old mail, but can only do it one at a time on the phone so I go to the computer. There are messages as far back as 2010! More distraction is needed. Is there time for today’s Sudoku? To avoid temptation, the paper goes into my carry on bag. I go to pack up all the electronic devices and cords, but the phone is still synching. Well there are other items on the list.

Empty the dishwasher. Hand wash the few dirty dishes in the sink. Put one plant on the porch for Gila to take. Put the ‘tree’ on the deck out back to be watered naturally. Empty the fridge of perishables. Is there time to eat that quarter fresh pineapple? Maybe when everything else is checked. Something has spilled. Clean the fridge (as if there wasn’t enough to do). Put away all the plastic storage containers. Put all the garbage and recyclables in my neighbour’s bins (I don’t want my bins on the street for the next month). Fill out the baggage tag. Check the phone. Still not downloaded? D’uh, I shut the computer lid so it was taking a little nap. This time I leave the lid open.

Gila is already at the door. She puts the plant and bags into the car. The pineapple is wrapped in saran and joins the other perishables I guess Gila will enjoy it later. Gila waits in the car. I can now pack the electronics but I need to restart my phone. I can’t remember my PIN. Something else that can wait until later. I try to fit my electronics into my bag. No go. I take out my medication, the nightguard, the wallet, the change purse, the change of underwear, the chequebook, the cheques that need to be deposited. (That will happen at the Scotiabank in Salmon Arm I guess.), the pens and finally the hairclip. Now the case with for the Macbook, iPad and cords can easily slip into the knapsack, followed by the other paraphernalia. I think I am done. I bar the back sliding door and as I head out, I see one envelop still on the counter. I was supposed to walk over to the post office before Gila came to buy a stamp. I’m sure there must be stamps at the airport.

I’m done! I lock the door and head for the car where Gila is still patiently waiting. I stop. I really should check my list one more time. We have lots of time. I sit on the porch deleting most of the items on the list. I can shop in BC and vacuum when I get home. CP! That’s the one item that hasn’t been done. I have prepared two bags of clothing for the Cerebral Palsy Society to pick up on May 16, but they are still sitting in the bedroom. Unlock the door. Run upstairs. Grab the bags. Label them. Leave them in the front hall for Isabel to put out on the right day.

Now I can head to the car. It’s still very early and Gila is taking me out for lunch at a hotel on Airport Rd. for a treat. While she drives I can finally switch into a lower gear and actually feel something. Anticipation and excitement. I can hardly wait to see the kids and how much they have grown and matured.

We take the scenic route to the hotel via departures at Terminal 3. Before lunch, I have a mission. Buy a stamp and mail that envelop. The Hilton is very staid and proper. The Doorman formally opens the door for us and as we enter, I trip (I checked. There was nothing to trip on.) and lay sprawled in the doorway (hardly staid and proper) laughing as everyone in the lobby rushes to help me up. I assure everyone I am fine and look for the gift shop to buy that stamp. Gila will not let me walk on my own now. She grabs my arm and slows me down to a more leisurely pace, checking, as we walk, for puddles of blood.

The restaurant is fairly deserted and the menu is limited. Gila orders me a glass of wine to calm down just a little more. I realize that I am talking a mile a minute, but once I have the wine, I can feel some of the tension disappear. We have a very friendly outgoing Jamaican waitress. As she comes and goes to and from the table, we learn her age (68 and not a single wrinkle), her philosophy of life, the community centre she has set up in Jamaica, her circle of friends as well as other details. Gila and I talk about our friendship and the importance of trust and loyalty. The meal is mostly good but not memorable and now Gila is ready for a memorable  coffee. Inez, our waitress, tells us that the coffee is OK but not outstanding so we just ask for our check. With it comes a complimentary coffee, especially made for Gila as well as a small box of chocolate she has been selling as a fundraiser. The coffee is to Gila’s liking, a mixture of cappuccino with a shot of espresso, not available on the menu. Inez hugs us as we leave, telling us how much she has enjoyed serving us. It has been a very unique restaurant experience.

Gila gives me the chocolate for the trip as she has eyed something else for a souvenir. The salt and pepper shakers on each table are very graceful white disks. They speak to Gila’s s artistic bent. She has just bought a set of white dishes at Ikea but it doesn’t include shakers. Now it does. As we walk out, the salt and pepper shakers from another table just happen to fall into Gila’s purse. I don’t know how it happened!

Finally we head back to the airport. I already have my boarding pass so check in is very quick and easy. I even manage to get what I need from the computer without help. Does that mean my computer skills are improving? As usual I get my thrill of the day being frisked after beeping in the metal detector and then head to my gate with an hour to wait for boarding. I settle in with my electronics. I finally remember my phone password and on the computer, begin to delete most of the remaining e-mail messages. Too bad I can’t vacuum from long distance. I even have time to work on the Sudoku (but not solve it), the crossword and the word jumble before boarding.

When I settle into my seat after boarding, I look in the computer case for my earphones. Not there. I empty my knapsack. Also not there. I always manage to forget something. At least, that is the one item I can easily do without. Now all I need to do is distract myself for as long as it takes before I can hug all the Tiefenbrooks.