Departure is already in sight but there is much to do: family and friends to visit, more appointments for various body parts, shopping and getting our shipment ready for pick up by the shipping company on Wednesday morning, all the while trying to vacation with one more week to go.
This morning I got certified as a bona fide traveler who can enter the country by simply swiping one of my two passports in a kiosk. I should have had this during my intense travel schedule in and out of the US, travelling on my own; now Axel has to stand in line while I bypass the lines and then wait for him later.
I swung by the MSH office on the off chance of finding some colleagues and friends to wish them happy new year and found some indeed; a few pregnant, others ready to retire and the rest at the same place and in the same condition as I last saw them. It felt odd to be at the office which is no longer my place of work. There are no regrets.
The rest of the day was dreary and cold and bets used to take care of some last minute shopping, gifts for the guards back at our house in Kabul, some starter toys for the daycare center that may start soon at our office and the missing warm clothes for the remainder of Afghanistan’s cold winter.
Sita, who has become a vegetarian after Copenhagen, cooked us a wonderful veggie stir fry. She has also sworn never to use the dryer again and now our basement is draped with clothes that are trying to get dry. You have to duck a lot when walking around there.
We ended the day playing one of Tessa’s new games, something about apples, that kept us entertained for the remainder of the evening while Jim multi-tasked, cooking our evening meal for tomorrow with his family which will also be our goodbye dinner for the next 6 months.
Sylvia's Journal 
Sylvia, It is Jan 21st and we are having a morning blizzard. Your poem was included in the North Shore Meeting newsletter and I saw your blog address at the bottom. I have just read all the way back to Dec. 21st with great enjoyment and fascination. Stephen and I stopped by your Masconomo house unfortunately the day after you both had left. I will look forward to reading your postings in the days and months to come.
WE are settling into life in Manchester and the quiet of small town living. Stephen has found an art gallery in Ipswich who likes his abstract art and will show his work. I have joined the singing group Cantemus and will train at the North Shore Hospice in Feb. After a lifetime of daily work obligations, I have really enjoyed a “sabbatical” time this fall. My broken leg is all healed and I walk and do yoga daily. All the best to you and Axel, Isabella Bates