The last 72 hours have been so full of major changes. Wednesday my parents came to Medina to help me pack up my apartment. It's all boxed up and ready to be transported to their house in Norwalk; which they will do for me tomorrow. Thursday morning I went to the Health Department for a serious education on vaccines and then was given 6 of them. Later in the day I rearranged and redistributed until my backpack and gear was ready to go for training camp.
Can not believe this is all I will be living with for an entire 11 months, minus the puppy : ( Comparing this photo to the boxes filling my living room makes me really start to evaluate what I've been doing with my life. That's another blog though.
Today, Friday, I spent the morning reading blogs by my squadmates, then had lunch with my mom and headed back to the apartment for some last minute details. Loading my gear into the car started to make me panic a little. Did I pack everything? WIll I have everything I need? Am I prepared enough for the possible rain? Did I remember to pack pajamas? Seriously, I debated unpacking everything to see if I have pajamas packed. However, I did not. I've convinced myself if not there are plenty of other options for sleeping. So now I'm sitting at my church's cafe trying to calm my nerves. I ordered a smoothie, not coffee!
I came to the cafe tonight to meet up with some of the best kids I've ever had the pleasure of knowing! Last month I helped at the church as a coach for our sports camp. At my volleyball session I met soon to be 7th grade twins Beth and Ali, and their younger brother Jason. (Their mom took pity on me and helped with the camp as well, it was so nice to get to know her, too!) During the week of sports camp I found out that I had been accepted to join The World Race. So I shared this with the kids and on the last day of camp they prayed for me. It was so sweet and amazing to begin this journey with the blessings of children.
About a week ago I recieved an email from Beth, Ali and Jason telling me they had an idea for my fundrasing and that I should call them as soon as I could. When I got them on the phone Ali explained to me that they wanted to help me raise some money. They wanted to know if I could give them some of my Threads of Hope bracelets to sell to their friends and family. She explained that they have a lot of family members and will be seeing their friends in the next few weeks. Of course I'm happy to have them represent me and help me to fund this mission.
Now I sit here at 9:00pm knowing full well I should go to bed in the next hour, but just like the night before the first day of school, I will not get much sleep. Since I'll be flying into Atlanta around 8:00 am I think there will be time for a nap in the airport.
