9 days and counting...

tuesday, june 1...
i woke up today with a lot on my mind. the holiday was over and i have so much to do. i first went to target with julianne and abigail. we got a few snacks for the trip, some shampoo, bug spray, markers for the children, kleenex, zip loc bags, etc. we need to start packing. someone told me to get the 2 1/2 gallon size baggies to pack fresh clothes in. it will be nice to have clean clothes to put on after we land in london on our way home. if we don't separate some clothes from our others, i am quite sure they will be yucky if they are kept with our other clothes from the week. after target, we went to bed, bath and beyond to check on fans. got a few small, battery operated fans to use when we sleep. i checked the weather today for uganda and it said the high was 75! now that sounds good to me :) i went to the verizon store to check out global phone service. my basic flip phone is not set up for global service so they are sending me a loaner phone. we can email and bbm (blackberry messenger) to all blackberry users free from both the uk and uganda! if you are a blackberry user feel free to bbm us while we are there. we will have one phone and it will be my regular number. texts and calls are more expensive of course, so please don't call or text us. it makes me feel better knowing i can communicate free to caitlin and mason. i just feel good knowing that they, as well as julianne and caroline, can get me if needed. everybody needs their mama! caroline has not said she doesn't want me to go but i can tell she is a little unsure. she will say little things here and there and she has been more cuddly. she likes to snuggle anyway but she's been a bit more clingy. she is at one of her best buddy's house right now and has texted me saying she was sad. that is unusual.



wednesday, june 2...
today i woke up again, with my mind full of things to add to my list. i (and caitlin and julianne) had to first take my mother to meet some friends from atlanta and indiana. they were going to memphis for a class reunion. they all look so young and are so active. after we had her taken care of, we came home only to find out we had to go right back out. caitlin had to babysit so julianne and i headed out to pick up some kids toothpaste that had been donated by some sweet dentist friends. thank you to dr. temp sullivan, dr. dale sullivan, sr. and dr. dale sullivan, jr. because of them we are going to be able to give each kid in the orphanage their own tube of toothpaste along with a toothbrush. we plan to put them in their birthday bag. since most of these kids don't even know their birthday, sweet sleep throws a birthday party for all of them! we are putting together goody bags that will contain the toothpaste, toothbrushes, pencils, a picture frame, a picture that we will take of them when we get there (they don't ever see themselves), a hand held mirror, silly bands (donated by learning express. thank you, connie and janine! emily works there and got them today), dum dum suckers and a few more odds and ends. i have been told to ask before we take pictures in the city but usually kids like to get their picture taken and they like to see it after you take it. after picking up the toothpaste, we stopped by home to pick up abigail who had been babysitting. we went to bink's in downtown franklin to get abigail a kavu bag. she wanted a small flat bag to carry with her. emily also has one. they are cute. i figure i will take a larger bag daily so that i can take the camera and larger items we will need throughout the day...bug spray, sunscreen, snacks. we then went to belk to find some longer skirts for the girls. remember what i have said about the knees of a woman? got some on sale, just a few. i know we will be wearing a lot of things two or three times. this is why that zip loc bag of fresh clothes will be so welcomed! we stopped at border's to get summer reading books for school. we got caitlin and emily some leisure reading books. we then spent over an hour at sears looking at cameras. i have needed a new one for a while. i asked and asked and looked and looked and all three of us took pictures and compared them. poor chris, the salesman. he was kind of cocky in the beginning, not really wanting to talk much. he was set to get off at 7. but by 7:30 when we finally left we had gotten to be buddies. i knew his best friend's name (trevor) and that his favorite show was "the office". i knew his girlfriend was interviewing for a job. (sometimes i know my girls wonder how they are sane living with me. enough said). he had told us how he and another employee, jerry, were enlisting in the army together. so chris, jerry, abigail, julianne and i discussed this and we told them that we appreciated the fact that they will be protecting us and keeping us safe. we were exhausted. what a long day! lastly, we went to p.f. chang's and my fortune said this "your eyes will soon be opened to a world full of beauty, charm and adventure..." i believe so :) i know those sweet children will be full of beauty and charm. oh, but when i got home i checked my email and what popped up but att news saying that british airways has done something pretty dumb. not only have they been on strike, but obviously they had put osama bin laden's name on a fake boarding pass for some reason (advertisement) and it has caused indifference. what the heck? so now is bin laden going to want to retaliate against british airways?? did i mention we are flying BRITISH AIRWAYS? oh gosh. i gotta' go to bed...