Countdown in 5...4...3...2...

5 days. Can you believe it? 5 days...and I will be in Mexico. As a co-worker/friend pointed out to me on Friday "I can remember like it was yesterday when you told me that you have 5 weeks left..." and I was like, holy cow. You're right. I can remember that clearly too and darn it, it does feel frighteningly like just yesterday.

Of course, my friends and I have remarked (and exclaimed) often over the past two or three years about how much faster time seems to be passing us by. I can recall sitting in my homeroom class as an eight-year old squirming in my seat as I counted down the minutes--and boy was there a lot of them--until I could be released for the day. A half hour took forever, an hour was time immeasurable. Now I can bearly keep up--time seems to be moving faster than I can account for it.

I can still see myself walking into my boss' office saying "You know how I had that meeting with the curator at the Field Museum on Wednesday..." and informing her that in three month's time I would be jetting off to go play in the dirt--scientifically of course. That was December 14th, by the way, a Friday. And now here it is Tuesday three months later, and Saturday is rapidly approaching. I've been preparing for this, yes, but being intellectually ready for something and confronting it head-on are poles apart a lot of times. I don't think we are ever fully prepared for the moments when they happen. Thank god I have all my shopping done though. Now all that's left is the packing and the good-byes and the celebration of this exciting new chapter in my life.