In the last stretch...

Only one night left in my own bed before setting off for the grand adventure! It's hard to believe that 6 months have already passed since I made the decision to take a year off. It's been a busy 6 months and time has really flown by.

The past week has been quite something. Hard, as I imagined it would be. Saying goodbye, even if for only a year, to people I've worked with for a long time was not easy. I had a nice send off with the gang from work last Tuesday (merci Christian!), followed by a hectic couple of days trying to finish up my job. By Friday I was drained, but then started over Saturday with the even more difficult task of saying goodbye to my close friends and family. But then it has also been an amazingly heart warming week. It's not often you get an occasion to be celebrated like I was these past few days. My going away party was amazing for me. To see all the people I love and who love me one more time before my departure made me feel like the luckiest person in the world. I am very grateful to have all these people in my life and it's hard to leave them behind for now (pause now to wipe away tears). But enough sappiness for now, and onto the fun stuff!

As mentioned, my "Bon voyage" party was great. My sister Jackie made this spectacular cake representing a world map surrounded by the flags of every country in the world. By the time I get back, I expect she will be making cakes that rival any seen on the Food channel...

I also received an embarrassingly huge amount of going-away gifts. An equally huge thanks to everyone for these, and I promise they will be put to good use!




And for those who are curious, I finally packed my backpack today. Everything fit into the backpack on the first try, so that's good, but it weighed way over what I thought it would. 38 pounds of stuff is a lot and it's about 25% heavier than I expected. I've unpacked everything and am going to start over tomorrow, this time trying to remove the non essential extras. But seriously, I don't know how some people manage to pack everything in just a carry-on type bag. They must have 1 change of clothes and buy absolutely everything they need as they go along. But then, where do they put the stuff they buy?


Tomorrow is another big day. Final packing and heading out to the airport with Jackie, Johanne and Mom & Dad. I'll pack a few extra Kleenex for sure.

And by the way, thanks to all of you who have posted comments. It's great to get your feedback! That's it for now. Gotta go rest up and take advantage of my comfy bed one last time...