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24 hours and counting…

Sunday, December 25th, 2005

Merry Christmas!

I am down to my last day before I leave for Sydney. I have been trying to upload photos onto a storage website, but cannot figure out how to do it. I can see this is going to be interesting, trying to do this from the road. I followed the seemingly simple instructions, but kept getting error messages. I have no idea what I’m doing wrong and it’s pretty much too late to try and figure it out before I leave. I wanted to upload some older photos I have on my computer to share with everyone but that just might not happen.

[read on]

Technically Saying Goodbye

Monday, December 12th, 2005

This past Saturday was my going away/ 30th birthday party. The whole time it was being planned, I felt like it was more of a going away party than a birthday party. With all the fuss going on with my trip, my birthday has taken a back seat to the planning madness. However, once the party actually happened, it felt more like a birthday party afterall. Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling all that great, so the anticipated drunken fiasco did not happen. But it was still a wonderful time, and my friends shocked and warmed my heart by coming out in yet another so-not-at-all predicted Chicago snowstorm to see me off. Seriously, what is the point of having a weather prediction? Driving downtown on Saturday night, it had easily already snowed 2 inches, but on the radio, they kept saying, “Tonight, flurries of snow with UP TO an inch accumulation.” How is that any better than relying on Uncle Fester’s knee pain when predicting an approaching storm? But it wasn’t even a prediction anymore, it was already well past the one inch mark. Where are these guys reporting from, Florida? “Sure, they might get an inch of snow in Chicago. It could happen, right?!”

My friends were horrible to me however, and quietly chanted “speech speech” after I blew out my candles, knowing full well I hate speaking in public and having everyone look at me. I had absolutely nothing prepared and am pretty sure I sounded like 6 year old with a bad stutter. “Um, yeah. Thanks, so, for coming. I really, you know, um, appreciate it.” That about sums up my vocabulary that night. Technically though, it wasn’t goodbye, as I have separate plans with almost everyone who was at the party for lunch or dinner or something in the future.

As soon as I figure out this dilemma of photo storage, posting photos, memory sticks etc, I will post some pics of the party. While I appreciate “progress” and “the future” in the broad sense, navigating through all the new gadgets, gizmos and overwhelming choices is giving me a headache. Even though I get frustrated trying to explain “the internet ” to my father, it also humbles me, because I’m really not so far behind him on the scale of understanding this “computer stuff.” The fact that I have this blog up and running is no small miracle, so people asking for photos just have to be a little more patient with me.

The countdown is at 14 days til liftoff, literally. And the goodbye will be for real that time.

Chicago, my kind of town. Usually.

Tuesday, December 6th, 2005
There is a saying in Chicago that we don't have 4 seasons, we have 2: winter and August. Most Chicagoans have this extraordinary ability to pretend that our winters don't suck. Ask any one of us, and invariably we ... [Continue reading this entry]

Pills, Shots and Sprays Oh My!

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
Anyone who plans a multi-country, extended trip invariably has to deal with the problem of malaria prevention. Unlike many other diseases, malaria does not have a vaccine. Simply put, the best way to not get malaria is to not get ... [Continue reading this entry]

Where has the time gone?

Monday, November 28th, 2005
Well, I can't believe today is November 28th! I have less than a month before I leave for my Round the World (RTW) trip. When I bought my ticket in September, I thought "No problem, 3 more months." But now, ... [Continue reading this entry]