And then they flew to Africa

Do you have a friend or relative who's house is a black hole in time? Meaning, you can't stop by for even the shortest visit without getting sucked in for hours on end before you know what happened? Because it's just so easy to get caught up in conversation and the next thing you know you're sitting down to dinner and you've cancelled the rest of your plans for the day because, why leave at all?

This happens to me EVERY time I go visit my Nanna, and it happened most recently last week, when I went over on a "quick errand" to empty her camera memory card onto her computer for her. (Granddaughters are the best at performing these kinds of duties.) Nanna wanted her camera ready because she was getting ready to leave on a trip.

A two month long trip.

TO AFRICA.

(Raise your hand if you think you have the coolest Grandma in the world! *waves arm frantically*)

That's right, Nanna and Duke (ages 82 and 81) left last Thursday for Uganda, where they will stay in the city of Jinja with my aunt and uncle, the founders and directors of Next Generation Ministries. They are not going for a "vacation", although it will be a fun time, but to do whatever work they are given to do, and boy are they excited!

However, when I arrived on Tuesday things weren't going so well in the packing department for my Nanna. She'd been at it for a week and not a single item was in her suitcase yet. So what started out as as a computer errand, quickly turned into a fashion advice errand, which then turned into a vacation stylist errand, which finally turned into a "OH WE'LL GET YOU PACKED IF IT TAKES TILL MORNING!" errand.

Nanna's not the most decisive. 

Long story short: I arrived at 2 pm and left at 1:45 AM. With every.single.thing packed, rolled tightly just like my mother taught me when we moved here from New Zealand all those years ago, and a hilarious evening of fashion modeling and interesting closet discoveries behind us.

Nanna deciding on jewelry choices, and her Elizabeth Taylor perfume collection, which made me giggle.

Did you know that most of the ladies in Uganda don't wear jeans or pants, dress nicely whenever going out (especially for church), and love to accessorize? I didn't, but Nanna did (this will be her second trip there!) and she was going to be dressed appropriately for every occasion, you see.

That meant dress clothes, casual clothes, work clothes, shoes, accessories, toiletries, and special items all needed to fit into her ONE suitcase, but not before trying everything on first to see what coordinated with what and what jewelry it would need!

Oh my word. I learned where I got it from! And I loved it! It was so fun to help her pick things out and show her how to remix items to come up with several outfits with a few key pieces, plus I just love spending time with her no matter what we're doing.

We just happened to be doing one of my favorite things. Playing with clothes.

I'll miss you while you're gone, Nanna! And I'll help you pack ANY time :)