Goodbyes

Today I had to say "goodbye" to two things: first was the unbelievably warm Southern Californian winter. Who would've guessed that I would've been in shorts and tank top on the beach in December? Not I. While today I awoke to rain and clouds, it still made it to 60 degrees. As I write, I'm 39,000 feet in the air on the way to Atlanta to spend two weeks with my parents. My flight was delayed an hour because of a threatening ice storm at my destination. Ice?! Crazy!!! I hauled out my massive wool winter coat to bring along on my journey. (I'm secretly excited it is cold in Atlanta - my wool coat is really cute and kept me very warm during last year's record D.C. snowfall. I was afraid I would never get to wear it again.) Perhaps I can tolerate the idea of it being literally freezing because I know I will be back in warmer weather in a mere fifteen days.

Second, I had to say goodbye to my dearest love and co-author, Mike. While I headed to Atlanta this afternoon, Mike is headed even further East to Prague and Israel tonight. Since we became engaged, the longest we have been apart has been 2 days. It is going to be a rough two weeks with us apart. I miss him already! There is an empty seat next to me on the plane that he would've fit quite well in. Or perhaps I'm sad that I'm not with him on his journey. I must admit that I'm a little jealous of his trip; I've never been to Prague or Israel, and really wanted to go. Alas, since I'm not a student, the Powers That Be weren't particularly keen on subsidizing me for a student-focused trip. Anyways, Mike has my camera (a nifty gift from him a few birthdays ago) and is instructed to take copious amounts of pictures. With any luck, he may be able to post an update or two, too.