It's here!

After months of anticipation the day is finally here. I wasn't ready to say good-bye this morning. I'm always the one leaving with a full van, waving to Seth as we pull away from the house. Early this morning, racing around I held onto them a little longer than I should have. Extra hugs and kisses...reassurances that they will, indeed, be able to have fun without me. I think, because I am such a huge jovial presence.

Have I packed? If you count the five suitcases that drove off this morning. Yes, I packed. I packed all week. Am I ready to leave in a few hours? Nope. My suitcases exploded into the kitchen after the family left. I'm weighing and moving and drying clothes and making my thirtieth list of the week. I work well under pressure. Figuring that the donations I'm bringing are more important than what I'm wearing, I have waited until the absolute last minute to pack for myself. I may be in the same outfit for the entire week because notebook paper is really heavy, folks. I'm talking, REALLY, heavy. And, Bibles, let's not even go there, because those guys are like three pounds a piece. I won't even start on crayons.

So, if all of the pictures of me show that I'm wearing the same jeans and shirt then you can assume I managed to fit both boxes of notebooks into my carry-on. Or the dryer didn't get my other clothes dry before I had to leave.

Either way, today is the big day. Tomorrow we'll be in Ethiopia. My mom, and I, and a team of people we haven't met face-to-face, spending a week with an amazing group of children.