I can't believe it's finally here. I'm sitting in the hotel next to the airport right now, preparing to get on my 7:30 flight tomorrow morning.

I ended up with two huge bags to check, and then my giant purse and a laptop bag. It's going to be an adventure in and of itself getting from the airport to the hotel. It's a good thing I aimed for one checked and one carry-on, because if I planned for two checked bags, there's no way I would have made it. As it is, I'm probably going to have one bag overweight. It is really hard to condense your life into two suitcases!

But enough of that. These last few days have been spent saying goodbye. My co-workers were super sweet and we had a little Going Away Get Together thing. It was a lot of fun, and while I'm not going to miss that job so much, I will miss the people. My last day of work was Wednesday, and it's a good thing I gave myself a few days off to finish getting ready.

Today, I also said goodbye to most of my family. We went out to dinner at the plaza in Kansas City, and I have to say that Jack Stack Steakhouse was a fantastic choice for a last American Meal. It was sooo good, and I was completely stuffed. Afterwards, my mom and I came to this hotel and my brothers and Dad went back home. We live about an hour away from the airport, so instead of leaving at 4 in the morning, we just got a hotel room. An extra hour of sleep and a little less stress.

However, in an attempt to get a head start on jet lag, I want to stay up all night. Then, I'll sleep on the flight and my clock will be so messed up that by the time I get to bed in Japan, I'll sleep a full night and be set. I don't know that that'll work, because I'm already sleepy after a very busy day.

The next post will be typed in Japan!