Goodbye is not The End.

Sometimes I feel like this whole thing is a much bigger deal to EVERYONE ELSE than it is to me. I mean, I'm excited and nervous and all. But everyone else is acting like I'm going to die and this goodbye is REALLY GOODBYE. Like, it's the last time we are going to see each other.

Maybe it's like when someone dies it is easier for them than for everyone else. To them, they may be in peace and bliss finally. But their family and friends don't know how to make it without them. Their lives are changed because of it.

Slightly too dramatic, but I'm just trying to understand the clinging.

Goals for today:

• Admire my two PACKED SUITCASES
• Read my new summer novel: Memoirs of a Geisha
• Leave the house

T - Minus EIGHT days!

And here marks my very first blog post. As I type this, I am listening to Rosie Thomas and sitting alone in the living room of my house in Rogue River. I woke up early to pack, but instead decided to create this blog. Equally productive, yes?

I guess I will start my very own blog with an explanation as to why a blog is necessary in my new life. September 2009 is about to arrive, which will mark an exciting/terrifying/
disrupting change for me: a move from my faithful home base on the West Coast of the U.S. all the way over to Moskva (Moscow) i.e. RUSSIA! I will be there approximately TEN months, getting trained to teach English then teaching all by my self like a grown person.

I think it's besides the point to say I am VERY nervous and apprehensive about what I am about to do. BUT, I am fed up with goodbyes, planning, and packing, and most-of-all LASTS. So it will be a relief just to get on that plane next Sunday.

All that's left to do is say goodbye to people in the Rogue Valley, goodbyes in the Portland area, goodbyes in Seattle, drive to my lovely Sarah Fisher's wedding on Saturday the 5th, goodbyes there, drive back, sleep a few hours, and FLY OUT of the fabulous SeaTac Airport at around 9am on Sunday, September 6th.

Goals for today:

• Figure out a way to fit all my stuff into my two large suitcases
• Talk to roommates and lovers on the phone
• Be nice to my family