So.... the countdown is at two days now. Two more days....
These last couple of days have been a mini emotional rollercoaster; I'm excited to go, I'm sad to leave, etc., etc. Lately I seem to find myself afflicted with "Swiss cheese brain syndrome"... I feel like my brain is full of holes! My ability to think, exercise common sense, plan ahead, etc. has been diminished to a sort of primitive survival-mode brainstem... Apparently this is what "pregnancy brain" feels like... I will tuck this little bit of knowledge away for the future. :)
It's been a good last three weeks, full of much visiting and meeting up with old friends, vaccines, laughter, baby-sitting, thrift-store shopping, walking, and sundry other things. During this time I've learned I actually like beer... a LOT :) and how to make a stone skip across the river. I finished watching the Harry Potter movies and started reading the first Harry Potter book, cleaned out the apartment, flooded my host family's bathroom, learned what "downs" are and how to read the scoreboard on a football game, served mass for the last time, helped save the life of a praying mantis, moved my brother into his new habitat, played several games of Seven Wonders, felt a baby kick inside his mother's tummy, fed a duck while canoeing, engaged in plastic sword duels, read children's books on Bolivia, took two preschoolers to visit the EMU library, and did much dancing with no music to speak of. :) I've also learned how much I love Ypsilanti and how much this is home. There is no place like Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor anywhere else...anywhere else is just not the same.
I will miss everyone and everything. I love all of you. During these last few weeks it has struck me time and again just how much I am loved. I am going to Bolivia knowing that all of you are thinking of me and praying for me, and I am so, so grateful for that! I could not do this without each and every one of you. Even people I've just met have told me that they're excited for me and they'll be praying for me... thank you so much!
Keep praying for me, I will keep praying for all of you! :)
To a certain eight-year old: Little Chrissy has been very busy helping me pack. She said to tell you "meow." Love you buddy :)
