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| "Made-overs" for Dinner! |
Today, August 25, marks 47 years since I arrived in this country! Hard to believe that so much time has passed! It was my first time travelling alone! From Hong Kong to Seoul to Honolulu to Los Angeles to Chicago to Madison (or, was it Milwaukee?) to Green Bay, Wisconsin! Doesn't everyone fly halfway around the globe on her first time travelling alone? LOL. I was on my way to Wisconsin to attend the university there. A chance encounter while seeking shelter from the rain had led to a scholarship and my parents made it possible for me to take advantage of it. The journey took two days and I crossed the International Dateline, too! I was 18 years old and it was quite an adventure!
On August 30, it will be 48 years since I left Sri Lanka!
Today, in between reminiscing, I chatted with M when he tended to the garden. He watered the garden and started on the late summer clean up! All the mirabilis (four o'clocks) plants under the lemon trees were ready to be cut back and the circle where the wild flowers grew at the back needs to be tidied, too.
A couple of items we had ordered were delivered today - another box of flea prevention medication, a box of kitty litter, and two big packages of toilet paper to replenish my stocks!
Later, I called cousin V to check on her (she had knee replacement surgery, earlier in the week) and chatted with friend R, too.
Brunch had been a cold cuts sandwich with grapes for dessert. At tea time, I had some crackers and a banana with my cup of tea. For dinner, I made over some leftovers! There was one slice of ham and most of a half of a chicken breast I had pan roasted, earlier, and a small container of homemade pasta sauce (tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, etc.). I cut up the slice of ham and the chicken breast meat, sauteed them with some onions, bell pepper (from the garden!) strips, fresh tomatoes and added the leftover pasta sauce to it, as well. It went well with some freshly cooked egg noodles. My daughter liked it almost more than I did! There is a little bit leftover for one person's lunch, tomorrow! Nectarines for dessert.
I haven't made a meal plan as such for this week, but, I took out a packet of pork to cook for tomorrow night's dinner. Not quite sure how I'll make it - curry or stir-fry?
Today, I am grateful for:
- All the little things that had to click into place for me to come here, all those years ago
- My mother's strength and support which made it possible
- The past 47 (48 if you count from when I left Sri Lanka) years
- The young woman I was back then
- What I have accomplished
Today's joyful activity was reminiscing! *smile*
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August Decluttering Challenge:
8/1 - 1 pair gardening gloves
8/2 - non-working heating pad
8/3 - old purse/handbag
8/4 - 1 computer CD containing a report
8/5 - 1 plastic lid that cracked and broke in two
8/6 - 1 hooded sweatshirt (received a new one to replace it)
8/7 - old make-up I no longer use
8/8 - 6 plastic laundry detergent scoops (I use powdered laundry detergent; each new box comes with its own scoop; I don't need to keep the old ones, but, it seems such a waste to toss them in the recycling bin)
8/9 - 1 sponge paint brush (unused, but, so old, the sponge is no longer spongey!)
1 plastic food container
8/10 - 1 blouse (given to daughter); will be donated as she decided it didn't fit her properly
8/11 - 1 broken clothes hanger
3 bras
8/12 - 2 Zucchini! LOL! Eileen informed me that the zucchini don't count!
8/13 - Daughter's old artwork: A poster
8/14 - Daughter's old artwork: A painting
8/15 - 1 long dress (given to daughter) - she had urged me to buy it for myself one year for all of $1, but, I didn't wear it. She, on the other hand, loves it! It looks much better on her than on me!
8/16 - 1 coffee mug
8/17 - A book on cake decorating
8/18 - 1 bottle of perfume spray (an "our version of a famous perfume" that someone gave which doesn't smell good to me)
48 year! Was it always your intention to remain in the US after graduation or is that just the way things worked out for you? Do you ever think about how different your life might have been if you hadn't taken the option to move half way around the world? I really admire you ... I wouldn't have had the confidence to do that at such a young age. xx
ReplyDeleteYes, it was my intention to remain in the US. My parents had applied to immigrate and were waiting for their papers to pass; we thought I would immigrate with them, when the opportunity attend university opened up and I came over before they did. Sometimes, I do wonder how life would have turned out if we had stayed in Sri Lanka; it would have been different, I suppose. :)
DeleteWhat an adventure coming to this country! Did you intend to return home after school? When did your mother join you here?
ReplyDeleteIt was quite an adventure! Especially since everything was arranged within a span of about 3 weeks! My parents (mother and step-father) had applied to immigrate before I came and were waiting for their papers to be approved, so, I wasn't really planning to go home, afterwards. Although, I had to show I had enough funds for a return ticket before a visa was granted! My step-father immigrated 2 years after I arrived here and my mother immigrated the following year (she wanted to finish her teaching contract in Hong Kong before she left). My change in
DeleteOops! It published before I finished my response! My change in status (from student visa to registered alien) took place after my mother arrived.
DeleteCelebrating your 47th year in the States!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne! I think there should be a hot dog or a hamburger in the meal plan, this week, don't you think? :D
DeleteHappy Ameriversary! I can't imagine going to settle in a country without having visited it before, though I remember you travelled around a bit with your family, in earlier years.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lady Ella. :) Yes, I did travel in Asia for the year between leaving SL and coming to the US (and as a little child, way before that). We didn't have the resources to visit prior to settling down, though.
DeleteIt wasn't a judgement. My mother did the same thing, coming here alone in her early 20s with no family or friends in the country. So I am familiar with it, just can't imagine doing it.
DeleteI didn't take it as a judgement. :) My daughter can't imagine it, either! She thinks I was slightly mad! :D
DeleteI wondered how you ended up in Green Bay! That was quite a trip you took to get here! It must have been very exciting, though I imagine also stressful moving so far from your childhood home and family. Celie
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit of an adventure, Celie. But, it turned out well. I have very fond memories of GB. :)
DeleteWhat an adventurous journey you had! That chance encounter made all the difference. I love how life can sometimes bring about such interesting changes.
ReplyDeleteIt was quite an adventure, Bushlady, as I had not been booked on my connecting flight in Korea, one of my pieces of luggage didn't make it on board at Los Angeles, and the cable notifying the university of my arrival was waiting on someone's desk because it had been delivered over the weekend, so there was no one to meet me at the airport! But, I managed to get on the flight at Korea, made all the other connections, reported the missing luggage, and called the University who sent someone to pick me up from the airport! :D
DeleteDon't hate me, but I did the math to figure out your age. LOL! Hope I wasn't being rude. That was a long way to travel for someone so young, but obviously you were very independent. It must've been a culture shock though. You've been in the states longer than you were ever in Sri Lanka. Have you ever been back to visit? Denise
ReplyDeleteYay! Well done, Denise! LOL! Yes, I'm 65! Will be 66 in November! No, you weren't being rude - I have not tried to hide my age. :) I didn't consider myself to be independent, at the time, but, looking back, I suppose I was! I guess I had to be, because in the days before internet and emails, etc., I couldn't call my mother all the time for every little thing! International phone calls were expensive; I wrote a weekly letter and that was all. Yes, there was a bit of culture shock. :)
DeleteI have indeed lived in the States longer than I lived in Sri Lanka. I have been back to visit a few times, but, the last time I visited was in 1990. I haven't been back since then. I probably won't even recognize the place now - I've heard there have been a lot of changes. I still have a few cousins who live there, and my oldest half brother, but, I doubt very much if I will go back.
Happy belated anniversary. What a long and probably scary trip for you to undertake at such a young age.
ReplyDeleteHow long after you came to the U.S. did your mother join you?
Thank you, Debra! :) It was a very tiring journey and the way the flights were scheduled, I didn't get any meals on the plane for over 24 hours, so I was a very hungry girl when I reached my destination! I didn't have much spending money on me to buy food at the airports, but, I had some crackers and chocolates with me, which I ate. Jet lag hit me the evening I arrived in Green Bay and I could barely eat the hot dog I had prepared for my dinner (it was the easiest thing to cook) because I was so tired and sleepy!
DeleteMy mother visited me almost 2 years later and she immigrated the following year, so, almost 3 years after I arrived. :)