Why I have been MIA: The Incident (aka "Karen's Worst Nightmare Comes True")

So.

Not that I was doing super awesome on posting very frequently, but in case you were wondering, yep, I'm still alive and kicking, but barely. I had started my 'random observations' post over a week ago and was chipping away at it--finally finished it up and posted it tonight, see below. I was midway through and then things, well, kind of fell apart over here last week. Here's the scoop....

So last Monday I went along with the Art History class to the National Gallery--it was wonderful to be going around there with someone who knows what's she is talking about! I got so much out of it I'm hoping to get to tag along to all the gallery talks in the future. I got home around 3pm--and since dinner is daily at 5pm here, Sylvia is nearly always here at this time. Last week--not so much. Lots of food prepared (a baked lasagna, some stew on the stove, etc.), but no Sylvia. Almost as if on cue she called me--she was 'feeling weird' and took herself to the hospital "but hoped to be back by 5pm" (which I knew wasn't happening). I warmed the lasagna and pulled together dinner, no problem, but it was all a bit weird and I was worried. I found out only after dinner that she had a 'small stroke' and was being kept overnight for tests.

My first thought, of course, was "Holy Crap! I hope she is OK!"

My second thought, of course, was "Holy Crap! What the HELL am I going to do??!!"

Sylvia has been the cook and on-site house manager here for something like 12-14 years, and has this place down pat. Not only does she order all the food and cook our dinners, but she also handles finances, calling repair people, etc. etc. Fortunately, I had been here enough weeks to be able to pretty much 'get' what she does and how she does it, but of course, I don't know everything...AND, I'm here to do a totally different type of job. So...

..Sylvia underwent more tests. She was having some vision problems, but seemed in better spirits when I talked to her Weds. I haven't talked to her since, but have been working with/through Diane in our Int'l Ed office, trying to figure out how to steer the ship (er, keep the ship from sinking entirely) for the time being until we know more information about Sylvia's long term health issues. Thank goodness the students leave on 'Excursion Week' break starting this coming weekend. For now, we have a temporary cook coming in this week, though I am still doing grocery shopping and some quick food prep (like the breakfast stuff, which is easy/continental).

Now, for obvious reasons, this is bad. Very bad. I mean, of course it's bad--it's a ton of responsibility on top of my already many responsibilities, and having 18 hungry college students is not a mob you want to face. We skated through dinners early last week, thanks to Sylvia's previous prep (no idea why/how she managed to get 3 dinners prepped total, as if she knew?), one night of pizza ordering, and one taco night that I must say turned out great. I'm having students help whenever possible (what better time to learn how to cook, right?) and they have been pretty understanding/sympathetic (like how dinner was almost 2 hours late the other night, because I had NO IDEA it took so long to cook a roast...fortunately, ask anyone--it turned out great though!).

No, what makes this my TOTAL nightmare is, and many of you know this already, is that I am NOT the world's most intuitive cook. For as much as I obviously love food, cooking it is not my forte (eating it clearly IS!). I mean, TWICE in the last year or so I have almost burnt my house down by leaving something flammable on my flat panel stove at home. I have burnt the hell out of things as simple as microwave popcorn and frozen pizza. I have never really enjoyed cooking, either. I think it must be the perfectionist in me--fear of failure, something. I don't like to experiment with cooking and get really freaked out when trying to cook something that doesn't come in a box with simple, clear instructions (and even then, I manage to mess that stuff up half the time as well). So the idea of cooking FOR MYSELF is bad enough, let alone 18 sometimes picky and always hungry college students was very, very overwhelming. I mean, gauging food amounts is really tough--one night, too much pizza by far, the next night, ran out of half the stuff, that kind of thing. This is why, on top of it all, this is my WORST nightmare come true. And why I have barely slept this week and spent a lot of time wondering 'why me?' (dumb question--why NOT me? But still...sigh).

So, yeah. Sylvia's health matters are still unclear. The future is unclear, other than Chris the Temporary Cook who will come and get us through til next week's break. Beyond that, I'm not sure--but should be the end of my meals, from what I understand.

On the bright side, I did have some highlights this week. On Monday my student Shelby and I went to Avenue Q, which I had been wanting to see forever, and laughed our butts off. On Weds I joined the Theatre class to 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' with James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad--great show, despite the fact that JEJ's character was pretty much a horrible man. But he was amazing. Some students convinced me to stay on and wait at the stage door, and I'm SO glad I did. Phylicia (we're on a first name basis, obviously) was gracious and very pretty in person, and signed programs gamely. But James Earl Jones? It was raining, so he went directly to his car. I thought for sure he'd drive away, but no. Instead, he sat in his car, while his assistant (who we later came to know was his son, Flynn!) held an umbrella for those in line, and signed the programs for EVERY LAST PERSON waiting in line. Two guys ahead of me had like 6 pieces of Star Wars Darth Vader pics and he signed them as well. When it was my turn, he asked where I was from (I said Iowa with a laugh...then realized, DUH KAREN, YOU COULD HAVE TALKED ABOUT 'FIELD OF DREAMS' WITH HIM!...but I forgot), couldn't believe I was a teacher not a student (why thanks, James Earl!) and asked where I went to school, what I taught, etc. Couldn't be nicer. The guy had a conversation with me! He was amazing, so humble and sweet, kind. We're totally BFFs these days. My students were bummed we didn't bring him back to the house, but I figure, hey, the show is running through April, there's still time. JEJ and I are like family at this point.

On Thursday of this week we also took a boat down the Thames to Greenwich, the Home of Time (I just made that up, though I think it could be in the running for the town slogan, wouldn't you think?). We straddled the Prime Meridian and got to check out the Eastern Hemisphere for a while, good times. I loved the museum there at the National Observatory but that's likely because I'm obsessed with maps and whatnot, so Greenwich was a delight for the maps-for-fun nerd in me.

Forgive me, but I'm tired, and ready to try to squeeze out 7 hours of sleep instead of my usual 5-6. It's been a bit rough, but we survived, and we're all still managing to have tons of fun in London. I have had my moments, certainly, but for now, I can still say I am so lucky to have had this experience. Just pray/send good karma/eat a fortune cookie for me that things start to get normal relatively soon...

Out to buy my chef's hat. 'Til next time...