Anticipating Life in the Mitten

Hope you don't mind a picture of the Zambezi... it's been so long since I've been to Lake Michigan it would have taken some serious scrounging to come up with a picture that matched this post... 

Things I'm Looking Forward to In Michigan

Of course, most of all—best of all—I’m looking forward to being together with my family for approximately 40 days, but here are some other items/events/experiences I’m anticipating while visiting Michigan (in no particular order):

• Sunday dinner
• Being a back seat passenger—not the driver—for car rides
• Christmas caroling
• Thanksgiving together
• Lake Michigan
• Big Apple Bagels (or any bagels!)
• My bicycle (riding it, of course—as long as the snow isn’t too deep! Haha.)
• A date with Brian in his new car (munching Wheat Thins on the way)
• The Cookie House—my garage, our heat stove, the wood floors, lovely decorations, and the shower box!, waking up and knowing Amy’s right there—in the same room—not a crackling skype call away. i.can’t.wait.
• Foody stuff… like dill pickles, a Subway sub, pretzels, fig bars, sliced meat and tuna sandwiches, graham crackers, and American ice cream
• My sewing machine and washing machine and waffle maker :)
• Watching BBC movies with Betsy and Amy
• Applesauce… jars and jars and jars of unsweetened and wonderfully delicious Michigan mom-made APPLESAUCE. -how I miss thee-
• American shampoo and conditioner
• My sweatshirt (why did I think I should leave it behind just because it’s bulky when I packed for Zambia?!?)
• Kroger (grocery store)
• Turning on the radio and hearing English… and listening to NPR/BBC. It’s been way too long.
• Shopping at Salvation Army, Beyond Measure (bulk food), and our favorite shops in Clare with my mom and sisters
• Hosting guests at the Cookie House
• Quaker Oat Squares (love those things…). Thinking of Oat Squares reminds me of Wheat Chex and Life—I wonder if Dad will mind if I come for breakfast the morning after shopping day to eat his bowl of Life-?!
• Snow. Though I didn’t miss it at all last winter, I do enjoy snowy days—especially when I’m inside baking cookies and watching the snow fall outside the window.
• Drinking tea with Amy
• Not being referred to as “Mukuwa” wherever I go
• Michigan fruit—cherries, blueberries, peaches, raspberries, and blackberries. Of course by this time of the year, they’ll all be in a preserved state, but that’s better than no state!
• Meeting Charlie, Amy’s dog
• Muffins just the way I want to make them (as all ingredients will be available) and full of previously itemized fruity goodness and SHARED with my family, who will enjoy them almost as much as I’ll enjoy making them!!! (yes, Betsy and Naomi, white chocolate raspberry can be the first batch)
• The Nature Center Trail/s
• Baking cookies with butter or shortening
• Spinach salad with mandarin oranges and dried cranberries (and hopefully pomegranates will be in season too)
• Calling Mom or Betsy or Dad or Amy or anybody in the US whenever I want and talking for as long as I want… because all those minutes are included in the monthly cell plan
• Rediscovering my closet, especially all the sweaters