More errands

I got a bit of a late start today since there was so much to read on the computer.
But I packed my bag and headed off for the bus. I rode it to the Dragon hill Lodge and walked to the bldg where I got the "Request for use of Facilities" paper signed. Then I walked over the pedestrian bridge to the post office where I mailed 2 packages. Then I went to the Four Seasons to get batteries and a small nut. They did not have the size nut I needed. Then over to the PX for some colorful candy to put in the teacup I made for the luncheon on Tuesday. My next stop would have been the library, but for some reason they were closed for 3 days. So my last stop was the middle school, to turn in the signed request form. I barely made it as they were closing the office.
When I got home, I got back on the computer and made a video for my Facebook page. It was surprisingly easy. I spent the rest of the evening watching self-help videos on Youtube.

Errands

I packed my bag with the things I needed to run a host of errands on post. I also dressed up a bit since Chris asked us to meet him at 5 to go to dinner with some people he has been working with this week. My first stop was the thrift shop. I spent 4 hours helping to sort clothes. Then Andrea came by to get a sock. (She is going to ask the ski resort if they found another just like it). I dropped by the school office to check on the cafeteria availability. I was going to go by the post office, and to the library next to it. At the library I would read until 5. But Chris called to say dinner had been canceled. I decided that the post office and library could wait until tomorrow since Andrea offered me a ride back to my gate.
Arriving home, I finished the teacup and tried to pick a pattern to make a top out of some sweater-like fabric I acquired in Dongdaemun, but nothing I have with me will work. I ended up watching movies with Michele and Chris.

Teacup

Chris had to be at work early this morning, so I got up early to pack his sandwich. I couldn't find the container. When he got out of the shower he told me that it was at work with yesterday's sandwich still in it. Humph! Then I packed Michele's sandwich and waited for her to get up so I could give it to her and go back to bed. When I did get up for good, I checked my e-mail and got involved in a chat which lasted for hours. Finally I begged off so I could finish a teacup that I started last week, with a chicken theme. While doing the handwork, I watched "Sense and Sensibility". I cried at the sight of wide open fields of grass and trees. None of that here. Michele came home from school before it finished and watched the end with me. Then I put on "Get Shorty". Chris came home during that one with the Netflix rendition of "Time Bandits". So I watched that, too. Now the only thing left to do is to attach the handle. So a good day's work.
One of the things I ate today was a dried octopus snack I bought at the ski lodge. Michele would have none of it. But it was amazingly like beef jerky, but with a slight hint of fish. Tasty.

A trip with Mrs. Cho

This morning I cleaned up the last of the snacks and utensils I had put out for the meeting yesterday. I rinsed the paper plates for recycling and prepared a bag of stuff to take down. After dropping off the recyclables and food scraps, I walked over to post to meet Pam. We picked up Tina and then met Mrs. Cho (who cleans Tina's house once a week) at Gate 19. Mrs. Cho took us to Dongdaemun as an interpreter to help us find specific items. She also found us a good place for lunch. We had soup, and several kimchis, and a bowl of cold vegetable matter. Mrs. Cho showed us how to put the hot rice on the cold stuff and mix it all with spicy bean paste. She told us to eat it with a spoon. Golly, half the fun of Korean food is eating it with chopsticks! Afterwards we visited the restroom. It was a unisex restroom and when I exited the stall, there was someone using the urinal.
Tina let Mrs. Cho go home after lunch. Then the three of us wandered down a new street just to see what we could see. We passed a stall selling rolling bags and Tina bought one. I should have too, since a wheel came off of mine. All it needs is a nut to hold it on, but where is LOWES when you need one?
We got home by almost 5. We'd bought quilt fabric to match the focus fabric our group picked for a block exchange. Tina bought lots of notions, and I bought some fabric to make some tops. I washed and ironed my fabrics. I tried to choose which block I would make, but couldn't settle on one.

They came, they saw, they did a little talking.

I arose at 6 to make lunches. After husband and daughter left, I started cleaning again. I rewiped the bathrooms, and kitchen. I lit candles to add fragrance. I cleared more clutter. I cut up fruit for the salad. I even put in one grapple (that is an apple that tastes like a grape). I put out the salsa and chips. I put out plates, forks and napkins. I hung 16 quilt blocks on the sliding kitchen doors. All was ready. Then Tina and Andrea came over with quiche, cranberry salad, and a vegetable tray. It was wonderful. But where were the quilters? They were late. Several didn't come because of the superbowl. (It started at 8am). But we had enough chairs. We talked and planned. We ate and drank. We looked at magazines. They saw my sewing room. We exchanged Secret Sister gifts. We had a drawing for the block of the month. Then, regrettably, they all left about 1:30. It was so nice to have them over and to have a clean apartment.
I spent the afternoon chatting on the computer and doing Sudoku puzzles. (I wouldn't say my computer is slow, but there is a reason I keep a Sudoku book beside it). Michele and then Chris came home. I read for a while. It was so nice and peaceful.

The quilters are coming! The quilters are coming!

Sunday we attended church as usual, but it wasn't church as usual because the bishop was in town. He gave his sermon sitting on a chair placed center stage. He was very good. Afterwards we all gathered in a large room at the Dragon Hill Lodge for a buffet meal. Nobody left hungry. Each table had plenty of time to talk amongst themselves, and then he said a few words about Episcopalians working with Lutherans and Methodists. Michele left for a meeting at the South post Chapel.
Chris and I stopped by the commissary to buy food for the quilt meeting at my house the next day. We got fruit, a snack mix, and chips and salsa. We then took a nap from all the food we had eaten.
Michele called for a ride home, which woke us up. Chris and Michele spent the rest of the day on their computers while I vaccuumed, picked up, wiped, dusted, scrubbed, and put away. Tomorrow I will get up early to slice the fruit and put out the other food. Now I must make another batch of ice cubes.
It was nice to have some cooperation from my husband and daughter. It is too bad that it only happens when there is company coming.

Skiing for the first and possibly last time

Saturday Chris drove me to the middle school before 7. When Andrea came, she had me ride with her husband in their car while she rode on the bus with the kids. He and I got to the ski lodge before the bus did. I got separated from him so I waited where I could see the bus arrive. When we were all there, Andrea showed me how to get the equipment and put it on. We had to help the kids since putting on ski boots is very difficult. So is walking in ski boots. I felt the the abominable snowman.
First I tackled the bunny slope with Andrea's husband helping me. After 10 minutes (and still not going all the way up) he said it would be easier on the other slope. I wish I had a picture. The other slope was considered an easy slope complared to the expert slope, but much longer and some steeper than the bunny slope. It had a chair lift. The bunny slope was all packed down and mostly ice, so it was hard to turn or stop. He claimed the other slope was better. Ha. It was faster. I suppose I could have enjoyed the trip down, wind wistling past my ears, if it weren't for the fact that all good trips must come to an end and I couldn't see a good one. The only way to stop was to hit someone or something. It was 40 degrees and what had melted yesterday had refrozen as ice. Snowplowing didn't work. Zigzagging didn't work. I slid down whether my skis were pointing down, to the side or up. (I didn't know I could ski backwards). It took me two trips to get down that hill. I didn't go back up.
Back to the bunny hill. I had to take my skis off to walk up because there was no walking with skis on. Putting one ski on was fine. But trying to put the other on was hard because the first was ready to go, even though I was leaning on my ski poles. I took my share of tumbles, barely missing small children, screaming as I went. Nothing broken, but it left me sore. At one point I was down with my skis pointing in opposite directions on opposite sides of my body. That hurt, and I couldn't move. A very nice young Korean man released my feet from my skis and I was saved. Whew! Then we met in the cafeteria for lunch. I got a plate of very thick rice noodles in a spicy red sauce. It was good but I couldn't finish it. After lunch the kids went back out. I declined because the bunny hill was so crowded that there was no clear path down. And I didn't want to kill anyone on my way down. So I sat in the lodge and read. Our ski tickets expired at 1, and the kids returned to the cafeteria to have ice cream and pick up their stuff (after turning in their equipment). The ice cream looked like pop rocks. I was surprized to find it was cold. For some reason, in that form it wasn't very appealing. Then we went home. For 40,000 won (about $33) for boots, skis, poles and lift tickets, it was a good deal.
At home I had a bowl of soup and took a nap. Then Chris and Michele and I went to the coffee shop for our Korean lesson. Only the teacher forgot and never showed up. We waited for almost an hour. Then we walked back. But it was ok.
I did some picking up to get ready for the meeting on Monday. But then I developed a headache and went to bed.