T-minus fifteen...

I have fifteen days remaining Stateside. This fact suddenly dawned on me yesterday when starting vacantly at my Outlook calendar at work. And when I realized how few days I have left until I leave, it also dawned on me that perhaps I somehow fell into a time warp that jumped me through a large part of the summer, because I swear the last time I looked at the countdown (and I'm quite obsessive about countdowns) it was well in the 40s. And now it's in the teens.

I am also realizing that perhaps it's time I starting taking this whole Moving to Another Country/Continent thing a bit more seriously!

For all the lists I've been compiling all summer long (To Pack, To Do, To Put in Checked Luggage, To Put in Carry-on Luggage, To Ship, To Leave Behind), I haven't actually been ticking many of these things off the list. I've done the big stuff (visa, student loans, new computer), but all the little, nagging things are most likely going to send me in a tailspin right before I leave. Which is maybe a good thing. If I'm in a tailspin, maybe I won't cry at the airport.

The excitement of leaving is there. As is the anticipation of living in Glasgow and the nerves of starting this program (programme?). But the realization that I'm moving to another country in fifteen days (not going on vacation, not job hunting, but m-o-v-i-n-g) is suddenly a very heavy thought. There's the chance that this summer I have treated my leaving as if I were moving to Pittsburgh or Boston or somewhere else with the same monetary system, same television shows, and same beer.