Surviving the Audit - and the Safari

OK, I'm not good at titles. This blog is about surviving the audit and going on a safari..neither of which are related except to say that the safari was a way to forget about the audit.

There's nothing that humbles one faster than coming face to face with something you are expected to know and having absolutely no idea about it. Last week, I lived that daily. Dear, sweet Bernard, our chief accountant, would come into my office every day and say, "Don't worry." I'd say, "Don't worry about what?" "About anything," he'd reply. "Don't worry." He should be the missionary. I'm just a big basket case.

But, God did get me through. There were times when I, on the verge of tears trying to figure out what assets to capitalize..but first trying to figure out what that meant, said, "God, I don't know what this means!!!" He'd put a little question in my mind, or bring a paper to the top of the stack -- one I hadn't noticed before, anyway. And there would be the answer! It was trying, frustrating, and I wasn't the best at handling the stress. I'm glad it's now over. Next year we get two -- one internal and one external. Please pray I have time to read my "Accounting for Dummies" book before then!

Saturday, we "surprised" Ashley with a half-day safari in Nairobi National Park for her birthday. I quote "surprised" because someone let the cat out of the bag the night before. So, when I woke Ashley at 5:30am, she got up smiling. I guess that's a blessing in and of itself.

The morning was cool and foggy, but visbility was good. It was such a stress-reliever to get out of the city for a bit. We saw lions and hippos and lots of antelope-like animals: dik-dik, impala, eland (HUGE - bigger than a full-sized elk), heartbeast, etc. We also saw an abundance of giraffes, zebras and birds. There are these five-foot vulture type birds called Maribou Storks, and the trees were chock-full of them. It's really weird to see 5-foot birds sitting in trees. We saw a few monkeys and baboons, and a whole herd of cape buffalo. The park doesn't have elephants, but it does have rhinos. We just didn't see any of those.

Ashley had a blast, until a guide with a gun lead us down a trail pock-marked with hippo and cape buffalo foot prints and lots of scat from the same. Then she got a little freaked. Jeff stayed at the car, and it's a good thing he did as monkeys came a-visitin'!

When we finished the ride, Ashley and I went through the animal orphanage. They had lots of cheetah's and several lions. They also had a cage full of various kinds of monkeys. One of their friends (or relatives) from the outside had come to visit. It was a blue velvet monkey, just sitting on the outside of their cage. It came up to us and put it's hand out, so I put mine out, too. It grabbed hold and climbed up my arm. Kind of freaked me out, but I got a picture!

I think Ashley will remember the trip for a while....at least a week. :)