Luke left for Thailand a little over a week ago, and he phoned to say he’s already contracted Yellow Fever!  It’s not even recommended as an immunization, so go figure how the kid contracted it in a country that’s not supposed to have it.  But he said once his temperature registered 41 degrees C he decided to head for the hospital where he was diagnosed with it.

He’s fine, and the wedding’s still on, so all’s well.  While in the hospital he also got every immunization he should have gotten before he left, but didn’t, and advised me to do the same.  I had smugly reviewed the information provided by the travel clinic and said no thanks.  Just now I phoned them for an appointment and will be there next week to get loaded up with injections.

But instead of feeling daunted, I feel invigorated by the challenges before me.  When I go on a trip I study my itinerary the way Romney studies the Book of Mormon.  I keep reading the departure and arrival times, trying to picture what it’ll be like on the plane, and try to imagine actually sleeping on the plane.

You know how you’re supposed to visualize things to make them happen, so I’m visualizing myself fast asleep, pressed against the window of the plane.  I’ll be landing in Hong Kong at 3:00 AM my time, and will need to stumble toward another gate to catch my flight for Bangkok.  I see myself actually finding the correct gate in my mind.

Another fascinating, though less rigorous experience occurred on Monday when I showed up as summoned for jury selection.  It was really interesting, and I met some very nice people while in the line.  We had to stand outside the courthouse for about an hour, because around 400 people had been called.

By the time we got inside, all the seats were taken, so I had to stand.  Finally at 1:00 we were allowed a break for an hour so I drove home, just so I could sit down.  I changed shoes, and returned, and was able to sit for the remainder of the wait.

Our names had gone into a draw, and one by one, people were called to be interviewed by the lawyers on each side, and then either they were dismissed, or else they stayed, and therefore became a juror.  This process took until 4:30 PM when suddenly the large wave of humanity surged toward the door with jubilation, and we were told juror #12 had been chosen, so we were all dismissed.

I received a complimentary copy of Country Woman magazine because I’m mentioned in their upcoming Dec/Jan issue.   You’ll be able to see it on-line in a month or two.  It’s a very sweet article all about fruitcake, and they have a great recipe I want to try.  I feel like experimenting with some new fruitcakes, just for the fun of it.

I received a nice order from someone who Googled fruitcake and found my site.  She wanted fruitcakes sent to her 102 year old mother in Montreal.  She mentioned she used to order from Gramma Deb’s Fruitcakes, but thought she wasn’t in business anymore.

I went on-line and found Gramma Deb’s, and there’s a sad story.  The site is live, but the note says, “I have not been well so I am not baking this year.”  I pray to God that isn’t me following the Thailand trip!