We are currently waiting to hear from S’s NGO as to whether or not the organization will be able to rehire her at the salary we need to make this project work. Its end of the year hiring freeze interferes with S’s ability to resign from her present position and prevents us from making practical plans about an apartment in Bangkok, maintenance of our Lexington home while we are overseas, and care of our pets who are unable to travel. One of our dogs, a one year old Maltese named Lucy, will probably make the trip back and forth with me, while the other dog, a five year old terrier mix named Ralph, and our four cats with remain behind. We need someone to live in our house and love these precious pets. Any volunteers?

Today S. is in her Frankfort office organizing files and having AAA tow her truck to a garage in Lexington for repairs. The ’96 Nissan refuses to start. S. drove my Toyota to work, so I am home bound, cleaning up trash in our basement, talking to my mother on the phone, and composing this blog from under the covers of our bed. It is difficult to heat our 100 year old hulk of a house, so I dive under the duvet, huddling with my laptop while dogs doze all around. The spring semester doesn’t begin for another week and a half. So while I probably should be taking down Christmas decorations and stowing them in the attic till next year, I lounge around in bed with books and blog to keep me company and canine body heat to keep me warm. At least in Bangkok cold won’t be an issue, but from there I will probably bitch about the heat. My uncle used to say my body’s thermostat was broken. Surely the approach of menopause and a Lexington home without adequate heat or insulation only worsen that condition. Drop me in the tropics in a few months, and I’m sure to be climactically challenged!