Hectic and Amazing

our girls J16 quad at my last regatta for a year

I've had a hectic week. The past Monday marked the last day of rowing I will have for a year, although I think the whole team knows (or should know) that I will be stalking their Instagram and Facebook pages to see how it goes next year.

The packing process has (for me) finally begun in earnest, and I'm sorting through mounds of clothing with the assumption that I will actually be able to weed anything out... I'll be taking two checked bags and a carry-on, and I intend to be mostly packed about a week before my departure from home so that I am able to make last minute arrangements/adjustments. 

I spent Tuesday-Thursday at a Dale Carnegie teen program in Shelton, CT, which turned out to be surprisingly helpful and informative... I actually gained a lot from the experience. Now I look forward to more events on my schedule as I try to fit a year into 21 days.

---

new Toms (my first pair ever) for school

As per the request of AMIDEAST, I've been measured for my school uniform by my mother. And Amazon.com has been excellent about delivering things I need in a timely fashion - like the shoes I ordered for school, along with some adapters for chargers and plugs. 

Today I am preparing to email my host family, which is incredibly exciting, and while trying to formulate my thoughts precisely it occurred to me that this family is going to see my at my best and at my worst - and that if I want to communicate before I leave I should just go for it, without panicking about word order.

Also on my mind is a long to-do list which I have been compiling for the last week or so, which grows every day. I have to constantly assure myself that I am, in fact, making progress, and that I will be done before I leave. 

Sometimes it can be hard to do the things you know you have to do - I am experiencing this right now. Rather than wanting to go through my closet to pack I am drawn to my computer and its endless stash of unnecessary amusements. I think it's a sort of reflex reaction - if you are scared of something, you try to put it off. But this is inevitable. It is inevitable because I have chosen it to be so, which is something I constantly remind myself. Although I am afraid to leave my home and my family, it is a choice I made, and no matter how apprehensive I am I cannot postpone the inevitable. I am still waiting for this message to sink into my brain.

In all seriousness though.... I leave in 21 days. Three weeks. The date is edging closer like a ferry in the distance off the shore - and the plane that will take me from home is my ferry. It will take me to Oman, and I will be ready for it when it finally arrives.

** As a sidenote: I have added a "Photos" section in the bar above. If you click it it will take you to a gallery of images I hope to build as the year progresses. 

🎶Don't Stop Believin' - Journey🎶

---