Sorry I haven’t posted anything lately.  My husband and I took a little jaunt to Jamaica for eight days.  Loved the sun.  Loved the sea.  Loved the sand.  Loved the snorkeling. (Did not love coming back to the cold and the 10 inches of snow we received tonight . . .)

The food was really interesting: calaloo and codfish (what in the world is calaloo??), chicken and pumpkin soup, braised liver, fish tea, fried bammy (pray tell what is bammy?), cornmeal porridge, pickled mackerel, and boiled yams. Their steamed garden vegetables were fabulous (carrots, beans, squash, zucchini), great omelets, wonderful fresh squeezed orange juice, and a delicious custard that they served with every meal.

One meal Craig asked for a Coke and I asked for a Dr. Pepper. When they came, Craig had the normal soda pop. Me? I had what looked like tomato juice with lots of pepper. Thinking it was like V-8 juice I took a sip. The Dr. Pepper turned out to be a Bloody Mary . . .

My students challenged me to get my hair braided in corn rows while in Jamaica.  I was hesitant.  They took up a collection to help pay for it.  My boss donated to the cause.  Co-workers donated to it.  A professor donated to it.

What was I to do?  I couldn’t let them down. I had my hair braided.

Did I feel funny going to church with my hair braided?  Did I feel funny riding the public transportation to work with my unusual hairdo?  Did I feel funny on campus today at work?  Yes, yes, and yes.  How much longer will I keep it this way?  I’m not sure.  It sure is easy to fix in the morning.  Just floof my bangs and I’m done with my hair!

I took a book along to read for those hours waiting in the airport and for lounging in the sun: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by E. Lockhart.  I must say that I absolutely LOVED that book!  (It was one that Stephanie Ford recommended in the video I posted last time.)

I made sure I shook all of the sand out from between the pages.  We mustn’t tell the librarian at the university that I took the book with me to Jamaica now must we??

If you have a granddaughter that is in her early teens and especially a sophomore in high school, I think this is a book that you ought to give her.  It tells of the usual angst of ‘do I look pretty’ to ‘will I be accepted by friends at school’ to . . . well . . . to the main theme of the book.  (I shan’t give it away because I don’t want to spoil the plot!)

As I’m trying to get caught up with laundry, the 250 e-mail messages from work, and from the lack of sleep (because of the beads in my hair feel like I’m sleeping on boulders), I hope to get back to making regular posts.