Countdown - T-9

Nine nights until I depart for Tokyo, and eight nights until I leave family and friends. Boo. I don't like leaving. Wait a minute here! I'm going to start over:

New Post:

In eight days I will arrive at pre-departure orientation! Nine days until I arrive in Tokyo and orientation begins! Well, technically there is an extra day there somewhere - we leave on Saturday and arrive on Sunday - but who's counting (uh, that would be me). We are staying in lovely hotels for both pre-departure orientation and Tokyo orientation - or, the hotels just have really good webmasters! Heeheehee. I've never flown internationally before, so this will be a...trip. I crack myself up.

I found out some very good news today! I talked to my pred today, and my wardrobe sounds like it will be just right for working in Japan! I was concerned, because some people on the forums said they had to wear business suits, while others said they wore track suits. This is not what I've been wearing for the past 5 years. At all. I bought my first real suit for the JET interview (which, if you are a prospective applicant reading this, was an excellent choice), and I own NO track suits. Blaaaah! Give me a skirt and top anyday! Yes, I am slightly obsessed with clothing. I am not ashamed. After all, I am a discount shopper. True story: My sister and I shopped at the mall for hours yesterday and found no tops we liked better than one I bought last year at Ross. I think it was $9.99.

(The author has left the building for a shopping break)

Well, writing about shopping inspired me to do some more shopping. Honestly, I know this is difficult to believe, but I am actually getting tired of shopping. I've basically been digging through piles of clearance items - both in stores and online - looking for winter clothes. But, here is an inspiring story for you. You see, I had 2 beautiful chocolate brown cardigans. I bought one on sale for under $15 and the other one for under $5. They actually matched and were from Ann Taylor Loft. They went perfectly with so many outfits. I could toss one on over my favorite sundress or pair one with a teal top and chocolate brown pants. They were serious staples of my wardrobe. Actually, they were more like the support beams! Then one day I wore one while my hair was being highlighted. Sadly, my sweater was highlighted as well. But, things were not too bleak, as I had a spare just for this sort of wardrobe emergency. Several months went by with chocolate brown cardigan bliss until the next fateful day. I was in my office working and realized that all was not well. There was a giant hole where a hole was not supposed to be in a sweater. Well, I didn't know what to do, because as anyone who has shopped for a cardigan knows, it is very difficult to find one that is cheap, looks good, and is the right color. It's like the old joke about the automobile repair shop - you can only choose two of the three. For a while, I tried wearing my sad little sweaters anyway, hoping no one would notice that my sweater was dyed, or that there was a big hole, but I eventually had to give up because I was looking kind of pathetic. So, for quite some time now, many of my favorite pieces of clothing have been useless. However, today brought a moment of triumph! After searching for weeks, no, months, I finally found...are you ready... a chocolate brown cardigan! Tada!! And it was at TJ Maxx and not very expensive! And it even looks pretty good! But, I'm still getting tired of shopping!

On other fronts, Amy and Kyle's rehearsal is TOMORROW!!!!!! I cannot believe they will be married the day after tomorrow! OK, technically it is now 12:02 AM, which means that they will be married tomorrow, but that sounds even weirder. I am so excited for both of them - I really do think they will be very happy together. I know God has wonderful things in store for them.

The countdown marches on! Perhaps I will rename it the countup...