Preliminary Packing - 8 days

This last week has been a little nuts.  In the past few days I have been packing up my room in boxes, making a website, working and packing.  Yesterday I completed my preliminary pack job.  I say preliminary because my school recommends that you pack once, weigh it and all that jazz, then cut your items in half and pack again.  I find that odd because I will be living in a completely different country for 4 months and I must pack for both winter and spring in under 50lbs and they still want me to cut what I have in half.  They say it's because London is a shopping capital and I will have a whole bunch of goodies that I will want to bring home.  This is true, but since London has a 17.5% sales tax (CRAZY!) I think I will keep clothes shopping to a minimum.

In my preliminary pack job I managed to get everything that I think I need or will want in my new suitcase.    The weight, according to my bathroom scale, is 44.5lbs.  I was hoping it would only be 35-40 because I did want to leave room.  My carry-on is still rather empty tho, and that's a good sign.  I'm currently in the market for a good book to read while I travel.  If anyone has any suggestions, I am very open.  I was thinking maybe The Host by Stephanie Meyer or Dan Brown's Digital Fortress.  I love both of those authors.

Just a few minutes ago I changed one of my outgoing flights.  It was scheduled for 6:50 departure, leaving me 54 minutes at O'hare to get to the international terminal and go through security.  My mom wasn't very enthused by this so she had me change it.  I now leave at 4:56 and will have 3 hours at O'Hare.  JOY!  I guess it's good not to be rushed though.  I will appreciate being able to take my time.

The next few days still hold a lot for me.  I plan on continuing to clean and organize my room, and I must get a hair cut before I leave.  I also need to convert a few more DVDs, but that shouldn't take too long.

It's weird that I leave so late.  Drake will have started before I leave, and everyone I know that is studying abroad through different programs is already over there.  For me, it's a waiting game.  Good thing I love games.  That's all for now.  I'll check in again soon.

Pip Pip Cheerio!