The house is relatively clean.  The short ribs are in the oven--which means the house smells heavenly.  The carrots are made, ready for their sauce and then their turn in the oven.  Rolls are ready to be browned.  Red cabbage, ready to be warmed.  Salad, ready to get thrown together.  Pie is made.  Appetizers need to be assembled, but are ready for that.  So this dinner thing is definitely under control, aside from cooking the noodles and straining/thickening the rib juice for 'gravy'.

JLO has to stop working.  She had hoped to work until their spring break (end March), but in an otherwise perfect pregnancy, she's having some blood pressure issues, so her doctor wants her to stop working now.  She doesn't need to be on bed rest, but she does need to take it easy.  So all of my travel plans have been pushed up a week, so that I can go and mother her for a while and help her get everything organized and ready.  I will still do about a week with KT first, and we're both looking forward to that.  I feel tremendously guilty deserting the husband for some 4-5 weeks, but he was the one encouraging me to change my flights.  There is something so much more immediate sounding about leaving in 2 weeks vs. 3--I feel like it's overwhelming to get myself on track by then.  I want to leave the husband all set--everything washed and ironed, some food in the freezer, the house as clean as it gets, etc.  Losing 7 days doesn't really impact that, but it somehow feels like it does, big time.

The foot has been interesting since he taped it.  It has taken some of the pressure off of the heel, so the pain there is more contained, but it's also making another part of the foot hurt.  Will be glad to have the mri on Tuesday and get this all sorted out.

So now it's time for a bit more sewing--I have a bunch of terry cloth left from making the hooded towels, so JLO has asked if I can make some burp cloths with it.  Yup--that's easy enough for even me to handle.  And then there is the list making that I am famous for.  I am one of those people who cannot contemplate something like packing without a list to work from.  And there's a list for the husband so he can pick up those chores I usually do in my absence.  A list of what I want to get done in the house before I go.  One for the grocery store.  You get the idea--a list for every occasion.  If only just making the list caused the things to happen--wouldn't that be wonderful?

And I have to organize my tutee.  The director of the literacy program said he'd take over while I was gone, but he's been impossible to reach.  So I will have to pin him down and then provide him with lessons, or else give her enough work to do on her own while I'm away.  Maybe a combination of both.  Either way, I don't just want to leave her hanging.

Hard to imagine that I will be traveling into winter.  Our time in India and now here, another warm climate, have ruined me for anything approaching fall, let alone winter!  Ah...the things we do for our children...