As soon as our exams had been turned in, marked, returned to us,and we had stained the pages with our tears, we turned on our heels and shot out the door. A quick stop at our friends' home to pick up their luggage and a pause at the kids' school so that we could throw them into the backseat, and our 5 hour journey to the capital began. Our flight to Africa didn't actually leave until the middle of the night the following night, so we had an evening free for bowling! It's our favourite way to determine who is going to rule and make decisions for everyone else. I never win if you judge by points. Judging by team spirit and hilarity? I'd own you.

At 11 p.m. the following night, we trudged our way into the airport. Our flight didn't leave until 2:30 a.m. but the check in counters close much earlier so we were lucky enough to endure a long wait for our flight. Thankfully, there is a shopping area for my perusing pleasure to distract me. I was awed by the merchandising skills:

Nothing says "buy me" like a whole jumbled up clump of rings. I instantly wanted to pay 10% above the ticketed price just because I knew what the ring would look like at the bottom of Lola's toy box. This would save me hours of searching because I would instantly be able to spot my ring among the clutter; it was the way that I had found it in the first place! Ingenious!

Moving over to the cosmetics counter, I was not disappointed. Again, the merchandisers had put my mind at ease. Rather than buying a lipstick and needing to use it in a precise fashion in order to maintain the integrity of the original shape, or hiding it from the grubby hands of Lola, I could buy a malformed lipstick.

"And if you buy now, we'll include these teeth marks for free!" Thank you, airport merchants. You have identified one of the pressing needs of the female traveler: stress over keeping cosmetics in pristine condition while traveling. Remove the pristine, remove the stress. Brilliant.

Less than 24 hours after returning home, and I had already accomplished whipping up this goodness:

Pumpkin scones with a spiced glaze, shortbread, gingerbread, and nanaimo bars. It feels really good to be back in my kitchen again, and slowly settling back into a routine.

Merry (late but still tasty) Christmas!

I came out of hiding for this public service announcement:

Happy Birthday, Mom!
I love you and wish that I could be with you today to spoil you, make you an omelette, watch a movie while we bundle up under some heavy blankets with a big cup of steaming cocoa. And a big box of chocolate!

I love you and miss you.

Love,
Your little girl-gone-awol.

"I'm leaving on a jet plane! Don't know when I'll be back again..."

Actually, I do know when I'll be back. We land in the capital on the 24th and drive back home on the 25th, just another day here in the desert. But I'll have sugar plums dancing and the sound of sleigh bells ringing in my head.

Charlie and Lola have a Dora the Explorer DVD where she travels the world. When we told them that we would be going to Tanzania for Christmas, they both shouted "Tanzania! Yay!" because this is one of the countries that Dora visits. Thank you, Dora, for saving Christmas!

Our friends have invited us along on a family Christmas. She was raised in Tanzania, and her parents are still there. She is absolutely thrilled to be going back home for this special season since she hasn't been there for more than 2 years. I'm thrilled to be able to see with my own eyes the places that mean so much to someone that has grown to be very precious over the past year to this heart of mine. I'm relieved to be invited to a family Christmas where there is a collection of ornaments, festive music and the necessary bustle of family to drum up the Spirit of Christmas that is mysteriously missing in the dusty, sandy landscape of the desert. It's amazing how much of my traditions are wrapped up in sub-zero temperatures, dark nights, candles, and snow (or the hope of snow). There is definitely no hope of snow here, even though I was caught wearing a wool sweater the other day. It's 20C degrees! I'm freezing! Don't laugh!

I will be out of coverage for next number of days. No matter how many times you hit refresh to check for a new post, there won't be one until after the 25th. Just warning you!

I hope that my friend's family has been amply warned that the whitegirl is about to be unleashed on them. They don't know what they are in for! Here's to never forgetting Christmas 2008!