Home for the Holidays

I was so anxious to get home just so I could be finished with things to do, but I've managed to keep busy for the past few days. There are presents to wrap, people to see, appointments to go to (ugh, I hate physicals), oh - and packing to do. It's a little overwhelming, but I'm trying to relax for a few days before gearing up next week. I'm run-down from finals week, and late nights started off my break. (I'm not really sure if people tend to post play-by-plays of their days like this on blogs, but I think it'll give you a sense of what I'll be leaving behind.) I went to my cousin's house after he and my aunt moved me out of the dorm on Saturday, and we stayed up last catching up and listening to music. I met up with my parents and brother the following day, and we did some Christmas shopping. I spent 6 hours going to and from Boston (it's 90 miles from me) to pick up my sister from school on Monday...traffic was unreal. Then, Monday night/Tuesday morning my ear started to throb and it pretty painful...God only knows how I'll go through labor someday. I stayed up all night, cupping my ear with a heating pad then an ice pack, watching the HSN with my mom (thanks, Mom). Luckily, I had a doctor's appointment early in the morning (a half-hour appointment, by the way, that lasted two hours!). So I tried to suck it up. It is indeed an infection, and I'll be taking horse pills till I leave. Better now than while I'm over there, I guess.

Today I had brunch with a friend who went to Cork last year at this time. It's always nice to pick someone's brain, and with life's big changes I always ask Emmy, who is a year older than I am. A pseudo- big sister, she's helped me prepare for a bunch of transitions. She brought me luggage to borrow, some outlet adapters, and an Irish stamp she had left over. I also got a lot of tips on packing and traveling & that kind of thing. It got me really excited to leave! I've been excited, of course, but it hasn't seemed real, I guess. I have a laundry list of things to get done before January 1, so I hadn't thought about being over there, just prepping for it. Today, though, it kinda hit me that I'm going SOON.

Well, a holiday concert is on TV and I can't listen to music and write at the same time so I'm off for now...