~ ANNE! ~

Time's up: I just spent my last night at Steve's house and my journey begins in a few hours. I unintentionally pulled an all-nighter - it became apparent a few hours into the night that I just wasn't going to sleep, no matter what. Kind of an odd feeling, actually. Luckily Misha kept the vigil with me, so I wasn't too lonely.

Right now I feel very dazed and also sick. I think I've pushed my body a bit too far in the last few days, which is great since the trip hasn't even started! Guess I'll be sleeping well on the plane.

However, most things are packed (note to roommates: I'm very sorry about all the crap I have inevitably forgotten) and I've said goodbye to a lot of people. Some of whom I really only see every six months anyway, so the dramatic goodbyes are a bit ridiculous! But I just think of it as a pretty good excuse for spending extra time with people I like.

Sadly, Alex didn't spend last night here. Her car's been giving her tons of trouble this week and she's at her parents trying to fix it. I'm hoping to at least talk to her this morning and say goodbye. Steve is asleep in the corner of the room. He earned my undying affection last night by volunteering to go buy me an MP3 player at the absolute last second when there was a sudden emergency with the music I had planned to bring (my portable CD/MP3 player decided it didn't want to play MP3s anymore). Luckily the problem seems to be fixed now, so no midnight journeys were necessary... and it would seem that I will still be able to listen to all my music.

I hope I can do something about this sore throat before I go. But here's to a good journey and the next post being from across the ocean!