Ho hum, another flight this week. The security agents at the airports are starting to call us by our first names. And luckily I usually get a pat-down. I ask them to massage my shoulders while they are at it, but they ignore my request.
We try to reserve our seats prior to departure. Then at the gate, Dad asks for an exit row. One time he was told he was too old. But that doesn’t deter him. He still asks each time. We really are pretty old to help everyone off of the airplane in case of an emergency, but we figure that if it was a REAL emergency no one would need help. They would just stampede.
On this trip our carry-on baggage was too heavy. We’ve never had our carry-on weighed before, but this was a cheap airline. Mine was 2 kilograms over, and dad’s was 4. So we started taking things out. Dad took out an orange, an apple, and a banana. Finally the agent just threw her hands up and said we were okay. They would do better if they would just weigh the passengers and compute the fare that way.
We know almost every nook and cranny of the airports by now. We have also visited most of the WC’s. All of them still have squat pots so you have to choose the proper stall or you’ll be sorry.
Our destination this week was a lovely resort hotel called Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa. If you have time on your hands, you might google this resort and reserve it for your next R & R. It “only” has 8 swimming pools. Part of the property is on the Mediterranean Sea. Its food area exceeded anything I’ve seen on a cruise ship with even more choices. The bathtub in our room was enormous, and even though I’d showered that morning, I took a bath. I haven’t had a bath for 8 months and I wasn’t going to miss out.
Your father spoke to the Mission Presidents about the Savior. Even though I’ve heard him tell the stories many, many times, I thought he did a great job. He basically focused on how the Savior taught. Several of the MP’s said they’d taken classes from him. They were all very gracious.
Today we had a Valentine’s dinner. It is the first time I’ve made mashed potatoes. I found a hunk of turkey at IKEA, so we used the cranberry sauce that Debbie Peterson brought to us. I also made stuffing. We had invited the two YA’s, and the 2 YVs.
Church was nice today. One of our speakers spoke from Germany. She lives in Turkey, but she was in Germany visiting family so she still wanted to give her talk. We could hear her via Skype. Dad also spoke because another speaker cancelled. Luckily he can always find something to speak about. He spoke about the Sacrament. He also spoke about feeling the spirit, and told the story he heard the Jacquarts’ bishop tell when we visited for Nathaniel’s baptism. The bishop said that his daughter was in the movie theater that was shot up and, just prior to that event, she had a feeling she should leave the theater. And she did! Many were killed and injured at that time. A good reminder to “stay in tune”.
We may come home hearing-impaired. We, of course, are of the age that it could happen naturally, but we think our environment might contribute negatively. Our street which is basically a sidewalk mall has stages set up occasionally with music groups that perform at decibels higher than any sounds I’ve ever heard. They have huge amplifiers all around the stage. If I plug my ears, I can still hear the loud “music” very clearly. It pounds, and pounds, for hours on end. I have no idea how anyone can stand it. Our windows do not shut out any of the noise. It lasts until midnight, or one or two AM. And it occurs about 4 times a week. I’ve always revered silence or soft music. We’d move, but it is such a pain to do that, and we have a year lease.
I hear it is beginning to snow in Utah Valley and that the air pollution is the worse in 17 years. The air here is very clean.... Just NOISEY.
I hope you all celebrated Valentine’s Day royally. It actually is celebrated here. I bought some heart candy, and dad bought some flowers and chocolate bars for me. We also took the bus and the metro to deliver a little treat to a family far away. We had the elders call them and ask if we could drop something off. (They don’t speak English). Turks are very hospitable and we were afraid if they thought we were coming for a formal visit, they’d want to feed us. So we were able to make a quick drop-off. The dad is in the Ukraine right now.
I love you all.
Mom
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