Arrivederci!

My dad is picking me up to drive me to the airport in 4 and a half hours--shockingly soon! I'm trying to finish up some last-minute things...knitting the last ear of the last stuffed toy, doing a small load of laundry, packing up toiletries, writing down important information, searching through the house for any little things I desperately need but will probably forget, making sure my head is still attached, etc. My stomach has been in absolute knots for the past several days. I'm excited, of course, but I'm nervous about traveling. Nothing bad ever happens to me when I travel--my luggage has never gotten lost, I've never missed a flight or had one canceled (or even delayed), I've obviously never been in any sort of crash or anything like that. But I'm still a nervous nellie about traveling abroad by myself. One thing I'm doing to combat this is by not sleeping tonight--and I'm going to try really hard not to sleep during my flight from here to Atlanta--because I want to be able to sleep through most of my 9-hour flight to Milan. Besides making the flight pass quickly for me, this will also help to reduce my sense of jet-lag, since I'll be arriving in Milan on Wednesday morning.

In spite of my nervous complaining, I truly am looking forward to this trip. It's my first real vacation in over six years! I never dreamed that I'd actually be going to Italy for a whole week, much less to meet my future in-laws. I feel so fortunate to be taking this trip, and I can't wait to share lots of pictures and stories with you when I get back. Arrivederci!!