Foundation Dinner

Last night we had the Rotary International Foundation Dinner. Every once in awhile I do like to get all dressed up though and this was the perfect opportunity. I was even recognized at the dinner and had a picture taking with Rick King (of the King Family) who also happens to be a wonderful LDS lawyer. He was our keynote speaker. I have one picture of John, Rick and I. The other is of John, Mary (our GSE team leader) and myself with our District jackets that we will wear in India.

This event was to celebrate Rotary's foundation. We watched a lovely video on all of the good things that Rotary is doing. They had an "iron lung" contraption that people used to have to live in with Polio. To me, I think I would have rather died than whithered away in my own personal capsule/iron lung. Wow, what wonderful things people with money can do....Polio (in 1985) was absolutely rampant. It is currently isolated to 4 countries. Absolutely incredible....I feel honored to be associated with an organization that truly cares for the humanity of all and fights against crippling disease, illiteracy, contaminated water, and so many other ills of the world.

The dinner was of course wonderful (I believe my place at the table was somewhere around $100 or more) as well as the program. Unfortunately, I'm not eating a ton and I think I worried Kathy even more...my plate was more than half full when it "went away" and John got my dessert. I did ask for a cup of hot water (which was quite funny because I was sitting with 4 other LDS people...when I turned over my cup and spoke quietly to the waiter, I had 4 concerned looks. Oh how I love those who care deeply enough for me to make sure I'm following the Word of Wisdom :).

The dinner was down in Tracy and I didn't get home until pretty late. I was all stressed out because I didn't have a chance to look at my primary lesson that I had prepared a week ago. Luckily we had practice for the primary program this morning (but then, I forgot my viola and I'm supposed to play with the primary during one of the songs!). At any rate, church was good, I came home and actually got a couple of hard naps in and now I'm going to prepare some quick bread for some families in the Ward who need some "cheering up".

I can't believe my parents are coming on Tuesday night...I still need to decide when I am taking vacation! I have dinners lined up (John and Kathy, Daniel and Susie) and many people are excited to meet them at Church on Sunday. I will have to run around to practice with Primary for the program (on the 8th of November) so hopefully my parents will feel comfortable enough when I'm off doing what I do. I've already had a couple of men who have offered to "escort" my dad around & the missionaries are always good at that too. So, it should be fine. Also, I'll be going to the temple with them on Saturday (doing my first set of my own relatives!) so they will have the opportunity to meet a few other people too. Hopefully they will feel as welcomed as I do every Sunday.

Doctor Visit

So, I offically got my "mental and physical health" check by my new doctor today. Apparently after 10 minutes of visiting the stamp of approval is given. I'm not complaining :) The bad news is I have to go back in (within a week) to get blood work. When I started to sweat profusely and ask how many tests he was doing, it basically sounds like I may as well donate. I have a tree killer packet in my car with the "ordered tests" that, of course, require fasting. Well, the good news is I can eat up one of my 8 days of vacation to go through torture....I really REALLY need to get over this. And, once again, I'll be braving it alone. Pretty sick of that too. But, on the bright side, I'll get it done and over with and find out how incredibly "healthy" I am!! AND I'll be at a clinic, so if/when I pass out or can't drive, I'm sure there's a qualified individual (or 2) that will be available or at least in the vicinity.

One funny side note (and reason for the picture) is when the nurse took my blood pressure, she complimented me on the "good numbers" and my low pulse (58 bpm). She asked if I was a runner. Ha! I laughed. I said no, if I run I'm usually in pain. BUT, I realized that I was wrong (sort of) as I have been running and am now showing proof - 5K Race for the Cure. I won't publish my time as it was worse than my 4th of July 5K. Still, the fact that I ran on the 17th of October, made it through the day, and was able to walk the next day was incredible. I attribute it to the WOW as I know this would have not been possible a year ago.

Still to do: get insurance (incase I do get some terrible disease and they have to fly me back to the US on a private plane), get my whole list of immunizations (I think the count is up t 6....I used to think shots were better than blood tests, however, the last flu shot proved otherwise. The good news is the doc is completely open to giving them to me all at once. I hope he's okay if I do pass out from hyperventilation...), find non-leather purse et. al, write a will, tame my hair with a blow dryer (find one that is dual voltage), get new glasses, find a camera, keep learning Hindi, and about a million other things that escape me.

So, I just realized that this is a pretty terrible way to start a blog. :)
Background: Hopefully this will capture my thoughts - good, bad, and ridiculous, as I am going through the toughest time of my life in addition to preparing for a month long trip in New Delhi, India. Fun & Stress, anticipation & fear, excitment & worry. If there's a feeling, I've felt it.

Thus far, I've gone through nomination, application, interview, acceptance into the GSE program, approval from my employer, and a few team meetings. I feel like the outsider. Everyone else has careers centered around soft skills - selling books, writing newspaper articles, working at a bank. Now, granted, they take technical skills too, however, if I said one word about some chemical I'd get the "deer in the headlights" and probably need to be quiet. I am hoping on this visit I will have some great conversations with my professional host families. Still, women are looked at differently than here. We may have to sit in a different section at the Rotary meetings. Sometimes I am a little outspoken and don't have a natural "submission" to men. I think I like the power struggle. Hopefully that won't be a problem... :S