Go! Go! Go! Pack! Pack! Pack!

One week ago I would have told you I may not be going to Australia, five months ago I would have told you that I would not be going to Australia. Today, five days before departure, I'm telling you I'm going to Australia! When I say this has been an emotional roller coaster, in those cliche words I couldn't mean anything more. 


This past summer it had merely been an idea and by the end of fall I had made it into reality. Once the acceptance was in, my mind started flying with a check list of "To Do"s. In the beginning I wasn't sure if loans would go through, then I couldn't even be sure I'd get school credit. That'd be a dud. Unexpectedly, it all got sorted out as the list got smaller. January 11th rolls around, my birthday and also exactly one month before I was to leave. Everything was wonderful and going as planned. I thought "what could go wrong in one month?" A lot actually, but I couldn't imagine anything that would set me back. 


January 16th rolls around, or as I've come to think of it, Dooms Day. I unknowingly rammed a sewing needle in my toe (see January post). Though, what's more is the day that follows. Monday, bloody Monday. We've all come to hate Mondays right? Early mornings...double espresso dosage...and the weekly stress to deliver your best is back on. Well, not to demean your Mondays, but the past three Mondays of mine had gotten exceedingly worse than typical. 


Monday, January 17th, I woke up with a throbbing, swollen toe. Knowing it was gonna be okay (I had just stubbed it right?) I continued to drive to work and earn some money for my Australian fund. I work while standing and walking so while that wasn't quite conducive to comfort, I stood for another 4 or so hours volunteering at Feed My Starving Children. Point of this is that at the end of the day my Monday had ended worse than it began.  


Please don't get me wrong while I write this, I take myself as quite the optimist, I'm just trying to convey to you what sort of rejoicing I'm doing right now. 


Monday, January 24th, I got news that I will go into surgery. Full out surgery; I'm talking anesthesia and all. For a freaking toe!...or Hallux as I've come to learn. I had never even had stitches before! Well...maybe there's something wrong with that too. In my fear of knives and objects relentlessly piercing into my skin, I was not excited. 


Monday, January 31st, a week after surgery, the toe is still swollen, still red, still infected. Ugh, with things not looking good I knew I would have to take this into the doctors hands. Scheduled the appointment Wednesday only for him to be in shock. My toe SHOULD NOT have been in the condition it was. To put this into perspective for you, my podiatrist basically ran out of the room running to call the infectious diseases doctor. Not something a patient wants to see or hear but I couldn't help but chuckle to myself at the scene. Needless to say, that appointment ended with "Well, I'll see you next Monday and we'll go from there, whether it be IV antibiotics or...worst case scenario...quite frankly, you may lose your toe." Shrieking inside, I obediently nodded and walked out. 


Monday, February 7th, a few days before departure, I woke up not knowing whether I'd have to leave late, not go at all, or even to keep my toe. Happy to report the friggen antibiotics worked. Thank you all you medical prodigies for staying up late studying and passing your examinations (though there isn't time passing that I'm not thanking God for that all to be possible) because I AM KEEPING MY TOE and getting on that plane! Horay! Horah! Please pop the champaign!


Now that my worst Mondays are over I can't wait to see where Monday the 14th takes me. Scuba diving? Rain-forest hiking? I don't know, but for what I can hope, not another toe fiasco. 




Funny, I've been playing my iTunes on random throughout this blog post and as it closes to an end "The Adventure" by Angels and Airwaves comes on. If any of you are avid iTunes listeners and have your settings on random through a combination of 3,000+ songs, you know that getting a song like that at timing like this sVeeet! A song I usually skip by is now taking on another feeling of anticipation. Geesh, leave it up to me to make such an over used graduation theme song a sentimental moment. 


Well, if you've just read that all; thanks and congrats, I'm off to go pack!


Mungu Anabariki! (God Bless!)