i still want to answer every phone with "scialdone and taylor"

i'm feeling rather lethargic toward my europe trip. tuesday was my last day of work, and i'm not leaving until next tuesday. i felt like i should be leaving by now, so perhaps i'm just anxious to go, and not thinking about it is the way to not drive myself crazy. it is so so so weird that i honestly don't know where i'll be in a week. next thurs nite, i don't know where i'll be. it's just odd. it isn't like i don't know where i'll be, but i'm on a trip where someone else is in control and knows. nobody knows. well, besides God.

i had a good time at BG yesterday. it was kind of a last thrill, the last time i'll use my summer pass. it was good to hang out with suzanne and neal and get to know them better. brian also came and rode a whopping (count 'em) 2 roller coasters. at least he got free parking!

it's hitting again how i have no idea what i'm doing with my life. i've got a little more peace thanks to 2 well-timed comments that others have said that have impacted me deeply in the last week. i know that i will eventually be living overseas, at least for a few years. i don't know where that will be, but it is not likely that hair dryers are a necessity.

i am helping my dad with his business for a few days. it's kinda funny... if it were anyone's but his, i would have signed on long ago. i'm totally behind the thought of what he's doing, and i would love to be a part of it under normal circumstances, but working with my dad is not normal circumstances. as much as i love him, working with him is not a good thing for us. it just wouldn't work. and thankfully, since i am leaving, i don't have to worry about the work streching on longer than it should, and i have a planned "out" which makes it easier.

so after working at the law firm, i know that i can work in administrative/customer service positions, but it would have to be in an industry or office that i "believe in." law is not such an industry. missions would be.

back to europe... ginny let me know today she won't be joining me. big bummer. i'm rethinking my whole trip now, wanting to spend more time in morocco. i've been really interested in africa as of late, and although morocco doesn't really fit in africa, europe, or the middle east, it still is the same continent. just like turkey isn't all that asian, but it counts! paris, norway, morocco, italy, and seeing friends are all my priorities now. so we shall see!

i'll keep y'all updated on a somewhat regular basis of what i'm up to and what i've been doing. since all 3 of you read this. ;-)

uuugh...it's Friday, for cryin out loud!

i.
am.
so.
tired.

i went to richmond last nite to go to the apple store, to see if they could fix my ipod. the scroll wheel quit scrolling, or works intermittently. so thankfully, they gave me a new one!! well, it's probably a refurbished one, but it is all nice and shiny and seems to work well! woohoo! and my dad let me back up all my music on his external harddrive, so i've got it all waiting for me, thank goodness!!

so i didn't get home until 1ish, and i still had to be up for work this morning. and i haven't gotten my preferred 8 hrs all week. so that, plus i'm a little bored right now, makes me very very sleepy!

so yeah, i'm working. temping at a law office. i didn't expect it to last this long, but i am thankful for the work, and they are flexible with me, which is great.

i went to charlottesville sun-tues to see jessica and matt. i absolutely love them! it is really neat how jess and i have been friends for going on 10 years now. i don't keep up as much with other high school friends, and it is really a testimony of God's goodness and grace working in our lives that we are still friends! we had some rough times, but thankfully God has changed our hearts and attitudes, so we are still able to stay friends. even tho we are at entirely different places in life, it is a joy to share with her about my life, and learn about hers, and still we have our experiences in Christ to share and relate to, too. good stuff. so we went and picked peaches in an orchard on top of a mountain, we went for a "hike" (walk in a park), painted the guest bedroom, baked peach cobbler, walked around the downtown mall, had chinese dumplings for lunch, i got to see the children's museum where she works part time, and she cooked an awesome quiche and moroccan chicken. mmm-mmmm!!

so my sister is married now, and i talked to her on the phone last nite. i was almost a little surprised that i could hear lee in the background, then he came over to say hi. still takes some getting used to.

did i mention how tired i am? maybe it's time for a cherry coke. it's only 9:30. uhgh.

so i'm leaving for europe in less than 2 weeks. my intent is to post once a week or more about where i am and what i'm doing, but who knows what will end up happening? my friend ginny may or may not be coming with, she isn't sure yet. i will be really sad if she can't come, but it's all for a legit reason, so i can't blame her or anything. it will all work out, one way or another. i'm glad i'm as flexible as i am... just an arrival and departure date, and a rail pass! so even if she can only come part of the time she thought she could, or different dates, i'll still be able to meet her wherever and travel together. which will be great! :-D

EUROPE, HERE I COME!!!!

woohooooooo!! i finally bought my plane ticket, so it's official! i'm leaving norfolk aug 29 and returning nov 1. 2 whole months of fun across the pond! yes!!

the things i'm most excited about are the fjords of norway, 2 weeks in italy, paris, morocoo, and seeing lots of friends in germany/austria/italy. good times!! the rough plan is to fly into paris, head up north to scandinavia, and fly down to spain where i'll meet ginny. for the next 3 weeks, ginny and i will travel eastward, hitting morocco, spain, the french riviera, switzerland, some selected italian sights (including a day of cooking classes!), then take the boat over to greece. ginny will head home from there, while i boat back to italy to hit all the rest of the sights ginny has already seen. then i'll head north thru austria, germany, and skimming the netherlands and belgium before returning to paris for my flight home. sound like fun? it should be!!

in other news, my sister is getting married on saturday. her soon to be in-laws have rented a house down on the oceanfront and are enjoying a week of holidaying before the big day. poor michelle is completely exhausted and stressed out, and it's only wednesday. it should be fun, tho. i'm taking tomorrow and friday off work to hang with the family... my grandmother comes in this afternoon, and my other sister comes in tomorrow. there's a tea with all the ladies on both sides of the family tomorrow, and a wine and cheese party at the nail salon on friday. not to mention the rehearsal dinner which should be awesome. there have been costumes arriving at the house in my name for this thing. i get really excited, then realize it isn't for me cos my name is spelled wrong! oh, well.

what about taking off work? you mean you're actually working? yup, that's right, i have a job. it isn't anything too fancy... just answering phones at a law firm temporarily. have i mentioned it's completely NUTSO!!? yeah, well, it is. if you want to hear some mildly amusing stories, call me sometime, or email me for the best ones. i have to admit, there's barely a dull moment! it's not too much work, so i have plenty of time to do things like check email, update my blog, and plan my europe trip! it doesn't pay all that awesome, but at least it's a job, and they're flexible with me.

i'm hoping to go visit jessica in about a week and a half. i've been promising to head up to c'ville for a few months now, and i really want to see her! i absolutely HAVE to go before i leave, so i'm pretty excited to get away from the madness down here.

farewell for now!