I am so thankful that God opened the way for me to be able to experience this. I know it is not my doing and I’m sure I don’t deserve it, but I am going to do everything in my power to make the most of it. I know God has a lot of work He wants to do in me and, if I am faithful, through me.
I have so much left to do to prepare. I probably should be sorting things right now, and not writing this. I have not even STARTED shopping, I do not even have ONE piece of luggage, and I have a terrible premonition that I am going to forget something vital. Anyhow, I am leaving to Victory (New York) for Family Week in 3 days, and I don’t know how much I’ll be able to get done before that. When I get back from Family week, I’ll only have SIX DAYS left to prepare everything I need to prepare in order to be out of the country for an entire year. I am terrified!
Last week, Thursday, was my last day of work at Gift of Life Michigan after two and a half years. My co-workers gave me with a great going away lunch. It was very nice. I can’t believe I won’t have anymore on-call. It’s kind of weird, but totally amazing! It doesn’t feel real yet. It seems as if I could be sitting under the hood doing a DNA extraction again at 2 A.M. in a few days or weeks; like its just a short vacation. I don’t think it will really sink in until I hit the airport.
I think I finally figured out what I’ll be doing on A-lag. I am assigned to Stiftelsen. I am not exactly sure what types of tasks I’ll be doing, but I looked up the word and it translates to ‘Foundation’. I guess I’ll have to wait until I get there to find out.
The girls are all getting so hyper! Now that its getting closer, it feels more real for them. It is going to be an interesting trip. First, the night before, we are all gathering in one place to make sure we get to the gate on time in the morning. (Opps! That reminds me, we still have to get the shirts with logos on them to help keep everyone together and for everyone to keep as keepsakes.) Next, a 6 hour layover in New Jersey…with 7 girls…all between the ages of 12 and 15….yeah…there won’t be any dull moments.
They are planning to go sightseeing and shopping during the lay-over, but no offense to its residents, I have no desire to see Jersey again. I went to Jersey for one thing; to stay in a decently priced hotel before going across to New York for the day. Not much to linger for. Especially since we have to be back at the gate 2 hours before take-off, giving us only 4 hours to look around. That’s 4 hours for some group to get lost, 4 hours for some group to lose track of the time and be late for check-in, 4 hours to lose a passport, etc. Really, I just don’t think Jersey is worth it. But hey, it could be nice. We’ll see.
In any case, its just around the corner!
