Well, this was kind of an interesting week...

To start with, I'm in Wisconsin and the weather here is CRAZY. I mean, you never know what's going to happen, it could be anything really. So, on Sunday, we had this big drop in temperature. It got up to around 50 degrees (which is pretty warm for December) and then DROPPED to around 0 that night. The next day, when my BIL was getting ready to leave to pick up gas (because we were out of propane gas yet again), he found the baby donkey my older sister had gotten down and almost unconscious from hypothermia. He was close to death. So, my BIL brought him into the house to get him warmed up because there really was no other place to put him. There was a little bit of a shelter outside but nothing with any heat in it except for the house. So, there was a donkey in the kitchen which was pretty interesting. We didn't think he would make it but my sister and her husband finally got him warmed up and he seemed to be fine.

Tuesday, my friend came and picked me up and brought me to town. Natalie stayed with her aunt since the weather was getting kind of bad and it would give Natalie a chance to have an overnight before we left as I highly doubt Natalie will have an overnight while we're in Korea (I just don't quite see that happening). The weather wasn't great as it was snowing (making up for all the snow that melted on Sunday) and with country back roads, the driving was not fun but we got into town and got a few things done. We also had a chance to go out and eat and that was very nice and do some shopping before heading back, throwing a pumpkin pie in the oven and watching Pippi Longstocking (an old childhood favorite of mine). I spent the night at my friend's and the next day was better weather-wise, clear and not too cold so we took care of more errands and then later that day, she took me home and I got back here later in the evening. The donkey was fine. He had his own little enclosed area in the kitchen (yes, he was still in the kitchen) and he had some hay and it looked like he was going to be just fine.

Thursday was spent kind of chilling out and things were okay with the donkey though he wasn't getting up as much but he seemed fine, was alert and all that and so no one thought of trying to get him up more or anything as we all just figured he needed some rest after his ordeal and being in the house where there is a lot of activity going on and stuff. My sister was back at work so she wasn't there to really see what was going on but again, he looked like he was just fine. Later that night, we started getting snow again. Another friend of mine was going to try and pick me up for the weekend but her cell phone battery died and she wasn't able to find the place (we're REALLY far out in the country here) so she had to go back home without picking us up.

Today, the donkey took a huge turn for the worse. He wasn't getting up, he wasn't eating or drinking, just laying in his "pen". At one point, I walked into the kitchen and he had his head up on his shoulder in a really funny way. A couple of hours later, he was gone. My sister was called home from work and she got back pretty much just in time for him to die. He wouldn't get up or anything and his breathing was very funny too. No idea what really happened though but there's been quite a few livestock deaths this week due to the goofy weather on Sunday. I guess animals can't handle that kind of drastic temperature change. It's amazing we humans do but I suppose it's because we're not outside as much and can just adjust the inside temperature accordingly.

So that's been my week here. It was kind of a goofy one, that's for sure. Next week is the big week holiday wise of course and although John and I really don't do the whole Christmas thing anymore, my family does so Natalie and I are kind of getting dragged over for the whole Christmas dinner affair and all that. My older sister seems to think that this would be the PERFECT time for Natalie to have her birthday party. John isn't so thrilled by the idea. I'm waiting on him to let me know whether he gets paid early or not so that I have somewhat of an idea as to when we'll be going to Korea. I'm also trying to figure out what all I have to do still. I'm really starting to think I may ship some things over there instead of packing it in the suitcase and taking it with. I think the shipping might be cheaper. Can't hurt to find out anyway. My plan is to look for space saver bags and see what I can do as far as putting clothes and things in there and then shipping it. I suppose it would make things lighter too which would help and that way, I don't have to worry so much about shipping costs but I don't think it would work for travelling with the way air travel and security is these days. It kind of bites but it is what it is. There's just a lot of stress and frustration going on with me right now as I'm trying to prepare, prepare, prepare and take care of Natalie at the same time. She's been hitting some HUGE mental milestones and some of them are just a bit overwhelming right now. John is going to have his hands FULL once she gets over there. Well, mine will be too but he's going to at least get her for a couple of days while I recover from the two months alone with her and jet lag, not to mention the 13 hours plus I'll have to be on a plane with her. Bleh. I'm SO not looking forward to that. But what else can I do? Just hope I find out WHEN soon so that I can finish preparing. It's hard to do that when I don't have a departure date.