What? Too Busy to Blog? Never!

I meant to blog this morning…then again, I meant to run this morning too. The running is not going to get done today. But if I can get this blog written and my car packed for tomorrow, I might get a run in early tomorrow morning! Tomorrow is Wednesday.

Every Wednesday this summer I’ve had a booth with my friends Rosemond and Isaac Owens at Summertime By George. It’s a music festival at Lake George in downtown St. Cloud. We’ve had unpleasant weather most of the nights. Last week was perfect however, except for a few nasty mosquitoes at the very end of the evening. The Owens own a catering business called Kalahari Foods. They grill Soya Khebabs and sell peanut brizzle and I sell my photo greeting cards and Kenyan curios. It’s a great way to let the community know about Nomadic Chameleon Missions. Rosemond and Isaac raised money through the sale of peanut brizzle this summer to buy a computer for Wezesha By Grace, the organization I work with in Kenya! They currently manage without a computer!

In other good news – I have raised sufficient funds to receive the $2000 from the grant I applied for through the Presbytery. I don’t have an official count on the funds, but between one-time donations and pledges I can finally exhale. A BIG thank you to everyone who has stepped up and out in faith to join me on this journey. I feel so blessed to be able to do this work and to have friends and family who are willing to support me.

As the days until I leave tick down – packing and insomnia begin. The biggest problem I have before I travel is getting my brain to turn off. I’m in go-mode 24/7. My brain is constantly adding items to the mental “to do” list and then before I put pen to paper, I’ve forgotten what it is I needed to add to said list. By the way, where did I put that list?

Being a veteran traveler, you would think I would have appropriate luggage, but no! I tend to travel light so this time my luggage is too small. Packing is now at a standstill until I can buy some more (very large) luggage. Packing requires space. In my parents’ house that means the living room. It currently looks like something exploded. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very organized – everything is zip-locked into the appropriate baggie with like products. No, I don’t need medication…if you did this as often as I do, you’d have a system too. However, it is the living room and I do take it over for at least 3 days and sometimes up to 5 days!

To make up for this, I cooked my parent’s dinner tonight. Quinoa topped with tomato sauce, sautéed peppers and onions and beet greens and fried eggs. It was good. But I’m excited to trade my chef hat for my travel wings. Kenya – here I come!