Time to Panic . . . I Mean, Pack.

I've been known to be a bit of a psychic. Today I saw my future one week from this very moment; I was restlessly trying to scrunch into a seat too small and not disturb the middle-age man sitting next to me, hoping to fall asleep so I could effectively adjust to the time difference in one fell swoop. 

Every time this, and many other, images that are to befall me in exactly one week popped into my head, my stomach did a flip. It was 15 parts excitement, 5 parts nerves and only 1.667 parts sheer panic. How dumb was I to believe I could work almost up until my departure date? There is still so much to be done!

Needless to say, the shock of finding myself seven days away from a foreign country finally got me moving. I'm currently packing (for real this time) one of my suitcases. Trying on clothes that will have to be warm enough for winter's chills on a hot August night is not my idea of a good time. It does remind me a little of playing dress-up though, and my inner child is smiling. 

I finished Till We Have Faces last night and started on Lilith this morning at work. Apparently the only thing that really does get my procrastinating self moving is a real, solid deadline. Personal goals and vague dates don't do anything. There is nothing so motivating as finding a due date mere days away. 

Progress . . . ?

Today marked the start of my official preparation. Procrastination has finally taken a beating and things are under way. Whilst cleaning my room I started throwing clothes and other various items into a rather large suitcase, thus helping me create the illusion of 'packing.' In a few more days this pile will have to be taken out, scrutinized, tried on, its level of layerability and matchability analyzed and finally rolled and put back into the suitcase. I also managed to narrow down the make-up and jewelry items I will be taking. My mom thinks this makes for a bigger mess, but really it's rather helpful and orderly. 

Another thing I can now check off my list is getting my laptop repaired/cleaned. The store has it right now and so I am writing this from our home computer, whose lumpy keyboard is hindering my ability to type efficiently. (No wonder I learned to type furiously loud.) 

Next on the list is going through a few years worth of National Geographic Travelers and heartlessly ripping out pages that make any reference to the U.K., Italy and the rest of Europe. Although not entirely necessary, this activity provides a nice respite (a.k.a. distraction) from the reading I have yet to make significant progress on. 

On a side note, I had my first major scare this morning about the whole process. A recent letter from Best Semester reminded us to make sure we had our immigration letters handy at the airport since that would be our proverbial ticket into the country. Well I had sent mine off with my Visa application and did not recall it returning. I tore apart my room looking for it, going so far as to dig through my trash, where I found the envelope it would have come in. There was still no sign of it so, rather dejectedly, I prepared to send an appropriately ashamed email saying I could not locate the letter and could I please get another. But what do you know, an email just happened to be waiting for me, clarifying that the year-long students only needed their Visas, not the letter, confirming my original belief that the embassy had not sent it back to me. My relief was tsunami-sized and I am back to my normal state of blatantly ignoring any worry about the trip. 

One Fortnight Away

In exactly two weeks to the hour I will be settling into an airline chair, pulling out my unfinished reading and pretending to pay attention to the flight attendant's safety speech. Although this scenario is exciting it is also just a little frightening. I had a dream last night that I was trying to pack. I woke up feeling stressed and flustered, with a nagging feeling that i was forgetting something already. However, in my dream I did own a very cute little black dress I wish really was hanging in the closet of my reality. 

True to form there are a million and one things still on my "to do" list. My laptop needs a new battery and a thorough cleaning; I need to alert the bank of my overseas status; my new watch needs to be adjusted; and my new (pricey!!!) camera needs to come in the mail so I can get some practice in before I try to take on monuments like Stonehenge. 

I have a good seven days of work left and 4.66 books left to finish. My mom wants me to do a run-through packing before I try for real (the night before). Which means I need to figure out what exactly is going with me. Which also means that I have to try on every piece of clothing I'm thinking about taking to see if it will practically work in full-outfit mode. 

I think I need to conclude this blog now, before I preemptively freak myself out and actually start worrying about when/how this stuff is going to get done.