Time goes by so quickly!! Less than a week ago I arrived back on campus and to maintainence trucks in my driveway and a dozen or so workers in my house. My furniture was either out on the back patio or covered in plastic. So after 24 hours of travel I found myself supervising home repairs. Apparently the water was so high in the street that it came in under my front door (there are three steps up to my front door). I had two carpets from Turkey that now are definitely "more antique" than they were when I got them. A silk runner that faded and bled and a heavy wool one that dyed the marble under it. I also had water come through the light fixtures in my living room. My only two photo albums that I brought with me were wet and moldy. Most of the pictures are okay but the albums are not salvageable. Many people had issues with drains on the second floor patios. I can report that I was very lucky in that there was no damage to my second floor. The work crew was followed by the cleaning crew and finally at about 9 I was unpacking and getting ready for bed when my doorbell rang-- could the fix my air conditioning because they noticed when they were doing repairs to the ceiling and the walls that the AC is exceptionlly loud. Two hours later they finished replacing the fan and I got some sleep. Workers were back the next evening to check on the baseboards where they treated some mold. By then the mold had come back and the paint was chipping from where they had fixed the living room ceiling. Another late night of repairs and I called to get the cleaning crew back in. I really need my marble floors sealed because in addition to the dye damaging it I am having a salt issue. Apparently the moisture causes the salt in the ground to grow up through the tiles. So every morning I can sweep up about a 1/4 cup of salt (no, not edible). I also bought some bleach and treat the new mold growth daily. I wish my father was here... I am sure he could fix it!! But alas, lots of students and staff were evacuated from their homes so I am grateful the damage to my things was minimal.
The BIG event on campus this week was the Grand Opening of the Supermarket. Tamimi I have learned is owned by Safeway. I LOVE being able to buy groceries from a store larger than a mini mart. I can actually buy one apple as opposed to 6 wrapped together. There is a florist area, a fish market, butcher, and imported CHEESE!! Oh I didn't realize how much I was missing brie and smoked gouda. There is an extensive olive bar and a nut market, a bakery and what looks like it will be a magazine section. I can get just about anything and everything sans wine and pork. I tested the beef salami this week and decided it is not worth it. I just have to figure out when to invest in the brand I am familiar with and costs a fortune or when I can risk buying local. For example, $10 for a half gallon of Bryers ice cream seems pricy. I did make a mistake with the flour-- should have gone Gold Medal and perhaps my shortcakes would not have been so dense. I have been to the grocery store so often that the manager welcomes me by name. I am thinking of requesting Skippy peanutbutter soon. By the end of the week I was ready to host my first dinner party. Eileen, thank you for the menu suggestion of salmon but I ended up going with chicken. There was no salmon and the fish all had eyes and heads- even the shrimp. I baked my Mom's honey chicken and served with linguini. Beet and orange salad and broccoli with sauteed garlic as sides and strawberry shortcake for dessert. The signature beverage was lemonade with pomagranate juice and a splash o seltzer. Not quite like my holiday international team party but it was a lovely evening-- 5 of us- Paul and Jamal who I work with everyday and Kevin who is the Assistant Provost for Graduate Advising and his colleague Eliabeth. I stated taking pitures as I was preparing and then got side tracked with entertaining so apoligize I don't have any people pictures. I am sure it is just the first of many.
A HUGE shoutout to Ruthann and Butch for my first piece of mail to arrive!! Your Kingdom of Saudia Arabia appropriate holiday card is gracing my dining side table. I am sure others will join it soon ;-) It hardly feels like Christmas is just around the corner with balmy weather, temperatures in the 70s. I play Christmas music at work though and booked my Christmas weekend trip this week. I cannot take time off yet but luckily Christmas is on a Friday (remember Thursday and Friday are my weekend). So I will travel to Istanbul (a mere 3 hour flight) and spend Christmas with friends there. I am looking forward to it already!!
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