28 days

28 days to go... that's barely any time at all!

Okay, so I'm down to under 30 days, and to celebrate/keep me on track I've made a paper chain. You know, those things that everybody used to make in Kindergarten to count down to Christmas? Well, my family used to make them for everything... Christmas, Summer, Birthdays, the works. We made them for countdowns, we made them for decorations... we're a paper chain kind of family. I mean, I'm sure it was just something to keep us busy for 20 minutes, but the trend stuck. So for the past two days I have taken a link off of my chain.

Let me just tell you, when I finished this chain I held it up next to me. It was shorter than me. In fact, it didn't even make it to my shoulder. It was a short chain. 29 links. It freaked me out a little. I felt like I should have had a chain well above my head, but I didn't. This brought about feelings of anxiety, like I said, because a) I haven't even started packing yet and b) I've never moved anywhere before. Not for more than two weeks, and not since the age of 6. I didn't even move into college, and I have no idea how to pack for a year.

But at the same time, I felt a great rush of excitement. Most of my friends (yes, You, lucky bloggers) are settling into their new homes and new schools. Everyone has exciting stories of places they've seen, old friends, new friends, adventures, and, of course, school.

Oh, how I miss school. I'm one of those people that spends the second half of the summer waiting for school to start. Not that I want it badly enough to take summer classes... I'm not crazy. But I love the community, the atmosphere, and the business of starting a new year. I love getting syllabi and reading about everything I'm going to get to do over the semester, I love meeting new professors and trying to decide who's going to be the loudmouth of the class (it's usually me) and who's going to be the slacker, and I love complaining about all the work I'm going to have to do. (Yes, I like complaining... you do too -don't lie.)

The fact of the matter is, I'm ready to go to Germany. Terrified, yes. Sad, a little bit. Most of my friends have already left, though, which makes it easier. But I'm also very very excited.

28 days from now I'll be in Germany.

28 days to go... gosh, that's a long time.