Baptism

We left for church at a reasonable time, which was good since I left my ID at home. At gate 52, I had to get out of the car and tell the guard my name and SSN. Then he let us through. We actually arrived at church BEFORE the choir processed in. I noticed the flower arrangements at the front were really tall. The sermon was about God using radical and unsettling change to disturb our complacency. Then we had a baptism for a baby and a young lad (not in the same family). The baby was Korean, so in Korean tradition, the family brought gifts of rice cakes for everyone. Hunter, the dentist, had just had a birthday, so he invited several of us to go to brunch at the Hartell house. It was very nice. And they brought him a special dessert with a candle in it, and sang Happy Birthday. After lunch, we went to Chris' office to call Michele (my phone had died) and ask her to deliver my ID and Chris' phone to the walk-in gate. It was closed, but we met her there and she slipped the items through the fence. Then we parked at gate 19, and walked to E-Mart. I sat on a bench while Chris bought nato. He said I slow him down, so I let him do it himself. Then we went to the commissary for groceries. From there we went home. Michele put the groceries away while I changed clothes. My adult student showed up while I was changing. She brought her 'homework' from last time. And she seems to have mastered straight seams, so we did zigzag today. Someone had given me a fabric bowl in the making. All it needed was to be satin-stitched. So I had her do it. She took it home to finish for homework. After she left, I ate some natto with hot peppers. I looked over my e-mail, and listened to an interview with Lindsay Wagner.
Chris was doing some laundry and I had added some pieces of fabric. I pulled out the fabric when it was almost dry and folded it until I could iron it. Then he started "The Mummy". So the fabric didn't get ironed after all. And now it's bedtime. And time to make the sandwich.

Too much internet

As I sit here, it is after 11:30. I have just finished watching an almost 2-hour internet video on Dr. Burzynski's antineoplaston cancer therapy. The FDA fought his use of his patented antineoplastons and then partnered with a drug company to file their own patent, which somehow was granted.
And now I am trying to remember what else I did today. It seems like far too much of it was spent on the computer. I did read an actual book for an hour or so. And I put together some sample pieces for the continuation of the purse class next week. And oh yes, it took me several hours to make another CD of affirmations, BWE, music, and sleep suggestions. Maybe this one will be more effective than the last one.
* Here is a pic of the botanical gardens in Jeju *

An enjoyable day at home

I woke up before the alarm went off. But then I decided to listen to one track of my CD and it put me back to sleep. So I got up late. I had breakfast with e-mail. Michele left for college. At lunch time I took a break to iron all the fabric that has been waiting for days. The top ones were dry but the rest were still damp. While ironing I watched Riverworld. It didn't make a lot of sense 'cause I missed the beginning. Michele came home around three. I 'filmed' her showing off the purse for the purse class. If all goes well, it will be part of this posting. Chris came home a little early. The 59 minute rule was invoked. I took a shower and did three Sudoku puzzles. Then I fixed myself a spinach salad with olive oil and lemon juice dressing. We watched "The Last Templar", which was pretty good, even if some of it did not make sense, or was inaccurate. It was a long movie, and just ended.

Purse class

When I got up, there were dishes in the sink. It struck me as unusual because my mother-in-law always loaded them into the dishwasher the night before. Michele, whose job it is, left for school soon after I got up. I had breakfast with e-mail, and then read a book for awhile. Too long actually and then I was late for the thrift shop. There were boxes of books waiting, but as it turns out, they were labeled for charity. So Ella called, and the man came pretty quickly. I was able to do all the books, and even the tapes and DVD's. However there were many non-book items in my book bin and I ignored them. I left the thrift store to go to the little park. I read a book I found at the shop on exercises to improve eyesight. The type was small and I had to use my glasses to read it. At three I went home. I had things to do to prepare for class, but instead I finished the book that made me late this morning. Then I finished my preparations for class: gathering print-outs, samples. fabrics, etc. Chris came home and cooked some bison for me. I ate a small bowl of that, and left. I got there at 6, and proceeded to set up. I had time to make a pattern for Shannon, and to do some cutting for my next purse. But as people came in, there were interruptions and I didn't get any farther than that. We had only 3 tables 'cause the rest were in the fellowship hall and no one wanted to go there and carry one back. Shannon made some progress on her apron, making fabric choices that I would never have made. The others worked on cutting out the pieces and assembling their linings. The girl who hadn't finished her zippered pouch last week came this week and I finished it for her since the machine was giving her trouble. We were a little late packing up. I drove home, switching cars along the way. I put away the bison which was waiting on the stove. I opened a coconut, poured the juice in with the fermented milk, and ate the meat while sitting in front of my computer. I cleared some e-mail, and investigated some new supplements. I posted a missing blog entry from our trip to Jeju. I hope the attached video link for the horse show works. And now it is past 11. Good night.
* Here is a pic of garlic drying in the sun at Jeju *
* Here is a pic from the botanical garden in Jeju *

May 27th in Jeju

awoke slowly, trying to hold onto my dream. But eventually it slipped away, to be forgotten, like most dreams do. Then a noise caught my attention. It was 8:17. Chris took a shower, and then Al invited us over to their room for breakfast. So I stepped into the shower with Chris. After we dressed, we went over. Chris and Cecily ate bread. Al had a muffin and I ate the two hard-boiled eggs. They tasted a little funny 'cause they were cooked over coals and smelled like woodsmoke. I walked out on the balcony to feel the temp. It was warm except for the breeze. After brushing our teeth, we went to the car. Chris used the GPS to look for the horse show that someone had recommended. The phone number was misleading, but Chris found it anyway. We missed the first few minutes, but enjoyed the rest. I took pictures and movie clips of the whip tricks, horse acrobatics, and then the re-enactment of some great conflict involving Temujen. The sound track had very dramatic music and the sounds of clashing swords. It was narrated in Korean only. Some of the actors waited outside while the crowd took pictures. Chris took a pic of me with one of the Mongolian horsemen. Surprisingly, he spoke English. Then we made our way to a tourist information center. They told Chris where to find a good restaurant. We went there, and ordered two pots of soup. It was excellent, and I think we could have done with only one. I took pics of the rock garden outside. Next we visited a beach. I did some walking with my feet bared and took pics until my batteries died. Finally we went to a botanical garden that included caves and animals like ostriches, and peacocks. I bought new batteries in the gift shop. I took pics of the only lava and limestone cave in the world. Although we stopped at the Glass Castle on the way home, we were too tired to explore it so decided to save it for another day. We went back to the hotel and our room. It took so long to get to our room, that I didn't have the energy to retrace our steps to go to the courtyard. So I stayed in and did a new kind of Sudoku puzzle that has no numbers in it. At 6 we went to supper. This time the waiter brought me a 'pedestal' to put my purse on, resting beside me. I am not sure why. We had a light meal and two bottles of wine. Chris and I left his parents there and walked to 7/11 for hard-boiled eggs. They had moved them so I had to search. I saw a package of two Jeju oranges for 5000 won. Seemed a little pricey to me. We went back to our room and Cecily returned my purse. I had left it with her to carry the leftover wine back to her room. We had the sliding glass door open so we could hear the dragon show. I leaned out near the end to see the dragon head spout fire and lower beneath the water. I finished a 12x12 Sudoku, wrote my blog by hand, and went to bed.

Waving goodbye...

I got up soon after Chris did. I took a shower when he was finished, and got dressed. My in-laws were up and dressed. They had packed the day before. Alfred stripped the bed. Then they took their luggage down to the entrance to our building. Within a few minutes, the taxi arrived. They got in and did not see me leaning out the window waving goodbye (or taking their picture). I cropped the pic so you can see them. I was much farther up than it looks.
I wanted to send out cutting instructions to the group, but had to test the pocket part to see if it was right. It was, so I e-mailed it out. Then I was late, so I high-tailed it to school. I had to park behind the thrift shop to find a space. I did make it on time. The teacher had me play a money card game with the kids. They had to say how much money was on the card they got. The one with the most money won. Purely a game of chance. But some took it hard when they didn't win. On the way out, I stopped by Mrs. Mccrae's room at her request. She wanted to talk about her daughter making the next Thursday night project. I talked her into making an apron instead as her daughter would require more supervision than I have time for. I happened to mention that I was about to go to Dongdaemun so she asked me to pick up some fabric. Then I walked back to my car. Mary and Cathy came by to pick me up. We parked at gate 17 and took the subway. I am not sure I remembered all the things we wanted, but we got a lot. We bought zippers, velcro, fabric (for baby quilts, linings, a purse, aprons, stash, etc), .01 pigma pens, and 60mm rotary blades. We headed back about 1:30. Mary dropped me off at the thrift shop and I found my keys lying on my passenger side seat. Was it a good thing that I didn't lock my car? Anyway, I drove to the little park and read for awhile, then went home. Chris was already there 'cause a water main had broken on post and everyone was sent home. He was watching Demolition Man. So I watched it too, and then since Michele wasn't home, we... When she came home, we watched Transylvania 65000. It was supposed to be funny, but some of it was just annoying. So I don't need to watch that again. During the movies I ate leftovers to clean out the fridge and to fill my stomach. After the movies, I got on the computer to check e-mail and never left. So now it is late, and I am finally getting a break from this terminal.

Relaxing day

I awoke, looked at e-mail, had breakfast. Cecily did a load of wash. I finished ironing the last of the dark fabrics, and wrote up the guild minutes for May. Al and I took out the recyclables. Then I went to the thrift shop. Not only did we have too many boxes of books, I also had to sort through a large bag of cassette tapes, and a large bag of patterns. But I was able to handle most of it by 3. I left soon after. Even though it was trying to rain, I sat on the grass near my car and read part of a Redwall book. It is Michele's favorite series. Around 4 I headed home. I put all the light fabrics in the washer. But then got lost in a conversation with my family and forgot to dry it when it finished washing. It hit me after supper and I threw it in the dryer, hoping no mosquitoes would come in near the dryer hose. When the fabrics were almost dry, I folded them and laid them in my sewing room. I didn't feel like ironing, so I sat on the bed and did a 12x12 Sudoku. Suddenly it was time for bed.
* Cactus farm on Jeju *