Packing Begins for Real

Today's adventure is the scariest one I've faced so far;

Packing for Real

I know, I know, I know. I said a few days ago that I was starting to pack, but what I meant really was that I was organizing myself to start packing. I really started packing today. My suitcase is half full and I'm really thinking I'm going to have to leave a few things here. Maybe a few books or some of my shorts that I probably won't be using in the land of the rain. I don't know really. I suppose I'll just have to see what happens when I get all my stuff shoved into my suitcase.

I leave here for LA on Tuesday. Do you know what that means? I only have one more day to pack! AH!

Officially Over

Today was my last exam. What does that mean? It means that first year for me is officially over. Done. Finished. Whatever word you prefer, first year has been completed.

Right now my tasks involve packing up my room. It's proving to be a little bit of a hassle seeing as I have a different size bed next year and therefor a new duvet and new sheets. I haven't decided if I want to keep my old duvet as a spare just in case we have visitors, but if I do that means that I'll have two duvets to store. I know that probably doesn't sound like a lot, but Lisa and I were offered the spare bedroom in a friend's house to store our stuff for three weeks and I don't want to overload the room with stuff...even if it is the spare room. This means that things are a little complicated when it comes to packing things away.

I'm trying to take as much as possible with me back but, at the same time, leave as much as possible. I'm thinking that in addition to the three plastic boxes I have I'll leave one suitcase full of winter clothes. I definitely won't need them where I'm going and that would mean that I would only have to worry about one suitcase on the way back across the pond.

So far about half of my stuff (not including clothes) is packed away. That's pretty good seeing as I have 5 more days to do everything...including cleaning the room from top to bottom in hopes that I'll get most of my deposit back. Really and truly, I may have finished up exams, but packing is going to be so much more stressful. Thank goodness that I have friends the help keep me sane.

Only 2 More Days

Alright guys. I only have today and tomorrow of class and then I leave very early on Friday. Am I excited? Of course I am! I can't wait to be back in Sunny California...even though I hear there has been little sun as of late. All of my friends have told me that it's actually really cold and that it's been getting close to freezing most nights. You know what I say to that? That they should try getting below freezing everyday during the day for the past 3 weeks and then they can talk to me about cold. I'm going to be going around in tank tops and shorts during the days I can assure you.

Anyway, today I'm doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Getting the last present to wrap up and sent to Freya and her family and picking up a few things for my parents and friends. I think I'm going to get something pretty and Scottishy for the annual PWAP Christmas Puppy Meeting. I'm also waiting for some Gaelic children's' books to arrive. The manufacturing centre is in Glasgow which isn't that far from here...maybe an hour or two by car. So, I was hoping they would be here by today and that I would get to pick them up before I left. But, I know buses and trains have been cancelled to Edinburgh from Aberdeen, so maybe the delivery from Glasgow is delayed. In any case, I'm really hoping that they get here by Thursday at the latest. A little girl in my puppy group asked for something Scottish and I wanted to get her a Gaelic Children's book...hmmm...if I don't get word that it's in today then I might just by her a cute Loch Ness Monster Doll. :D

Besides that, I'm packing and enjoying my last few days here in Scotland before I head back to the States.

Week Long Stretch

Well, here we are! It's only a week until I leave California. I'm freaking out man! I mean I'm just starting to pack up my room. I probably shouldn't even be doing this blog post because I should be packing and working on getting ready for school. But I'm going to do it anyway.

I'm starting to pack up my DVDs and I'm in sort of a pickle. You see, I'm thinking I'll take four DVDs, five tops, with me. Right now I'm trying to decide which lucky ones get to come and which ones have to go in the box in the closet. Some already in the box are "Dear Frankie", "Young Frankenstein", "What a Wonderful Life", "Pleasantville", "Sydney White", and various other titles. There are 23 DVDs already in the box and 21 still out. Three of those 21 are going to the Yard Sale this Saturday to be sold. So now...I have to figure out what I'm taking. I'm definitely taking "What's Up Doc" starring Barbra Streisand. :)

Here is the list of other DVDs waiting to be placed:

Across the Universe
Atonement*
Bride Wars
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Choclat
The Devil Wears Prada
Driving Lessons*
The Duchess*
Julie and Julia*
Marley&Me
Miss Congeniality
The Notebook*
Practical Magic
Pride and Prejudice*
The Proposal
PS I Love You
While You Were Sleeping*

Can you tell I'm a big Fan of Anne Hathaway and Sandra Bullock? I put away "Premonition" and "Princess Diaries" and "Ella Enchanted" already. :)

The ones with a * by them means that they are the best possibility to be taken with me. But that can change at any time. :)

My New Kindle

I finally broke down and got a kindle. I used to think that there was no way that I would ever get a kindle because I really like holding the books and owning the books and all that stuff. It just seems old timey to me and I like the idea of having a library full of books when I get older and have a house of my own. You know, one of those libraries that you read about in Jane Austen books. But, I realized something as I was packing. I can't take that many books. I have this pile of books that I was starring at and wondering which books I should take and which I should leave. I couldn't just leave my copy of The Great Gatsby could I? Well, when I came to the realization that I couldn't take all of my books with me I was very sad. Sounds nerdy, but I really was. That's when my dad said that maybe it was time I got a kindle. Since I like the idea of being able to read a different book every month I agreed to get a kindle. So, now, Kendall the Kindle (that's right! It asked me for a name and "Erin's Kindle" was too boring for me) is set up and I have bought my first book on it. It's a Phillippa Gregory book.

For those of you who don't know Phillippa Gregory and like historical fiction I would say that you need to run to your library, bookstore, or kindle and buy one of her books. This will be the third book of hers that I have read, but I'm looking forward to reading all of her books because they're just that good. :)

Only 2 Weeks (Plus a Little)

I am slowly and surely packing. I went out and bought a whole bunch of new, warm clothes. Well, as warm of clothes as you can get in California. Anyway, I pretty much have all of my clothes ready. I bought these really cool socks that go all the way up my legs. They're amazing! Let's see, new pairs of long pajama pants, 6 long sleeve or turtle neck short sleeve shirts, underwear, socks (about a million new pairs), some regular shirts (hey, $8 at Target), some dorm shoes...and long pants. Yep! Plenty of new clothes but they are definitely a lot cheaper here than they will be in Scotland.

I've also bought a few new cooking things. I got a vegetable peeler that goes on your finger. :D I think it's the coolest thing in the world. Well, besides my collapsible strainer.

My large bag is half way packed. All of my jeans and long sleep pants are packed and so are most of my long sleeve shirts and sweaters. My socks too and other underwear. I'm waiting to pack up my little suitcase until after this weekend when I go down to visit my mom and step dad. But I really think I'm going to have enough room for everything! Including my pictures! That's a big relief for me.

On another note, I got a call from my first puppy's new partner's wife asking me what I ate. I told her I ate everything really, but that I was a vegetarian. I think I said something along the lines of I'm not really that picky and she said well, you're a vegetarian. That's pretty picky. I thought that was hilarious! But seriously, I really do eat almost everything...except meat.

Anyway, I'll post pictures of my last two weeks here. Most of these two weeks will be spent with Rocco. I think I might miss him the most. That sounds weird, but I've really grown attached to him. He's such a goober and I have no idea what I'm going to do when I'm in my littler dorm room all alone...with no dog. I've had a dog all my life. I mean ALL my life. It's gonna be the biggest change of all I think.

Packing It All Away

It's less than a month now until I leave...I can't help but feel like I'm really not trying anymore. You know, two weeks ago I was getting everything ready. I was packing, storing, and doing all of the college stuff like paying tuition and registering. But now I'm not really doing anything. I still really want to go still! Don't worry about that. I'm definitely still going. But all of a sudden I feel like I belong here. When life smacks you across the head with something are you just suppose to ignore it? I mean, I've been slapped across the face with life and I can't ignore it.

Almost Done

Woohoo! I'm almost done with everything but packing.

I booked my flight times. I'm leaving September 15 and going down to visit my first GDB puppy who is now a working Guide for day before I leave the country. I have a wonderful gift for her and her new partner for her Second birthday (which is on October 11) and I'm so glad I get to give it to them in person. It'll be a month early, but at least I won't have to leave it in a package here with orders to ship it to them on the first week of October. Now I know that it'll get to them. :) Anyway, then I leave from there on the 17th and arrive in Aberdeen on the 18th.

And since I've made my travel plans I was able to book my seat on the free shuttle from the airport to the school on welcome weekend. They wanted flight numbers and arrival times and all that, so I was finally able to do that.

I've also almost finished registration. The UA has this interesting eRegistration page with the school crest in the middle. You click on the four separate corners of the crest to go on to a different part of eRegistration. My personal details are complete. YAY! I've registered on the University online community which means I have access to all computers on campus now and have my University email address. YAY! And I've paid for the semester. Funny store there. I tried to pay GBP 9,500.00 and it wouldn't let me transfer the money from my college fund to the school and I couldn't figure out why. It was driving me crazy! I was afraid that there was no money in my account anymore (ID theft! AH!) but there was. Then I was afraid the bank card wasn't working so I went to Barnes & Nobles and bought a drink with it, so it wasn't that. Then I realized that it was GBP 9,500.00 a year not a semester and it wasn't letting my pay for the whole year. So I paid my GBP 4,750.00 with no problem! YAY! Now the only thing I have to do is register for classes. For some reason when I click on that last fourth of the crest it doesn't take me to another page. I can't figure it out so I've emailed my overseas advisor (yes, she got back to me this morning after two weeks and after I had figured out where to go and what to do) and asked her if I actually couldn't register for classes until Freshers week. I also asked her how much I still owed for my accommodations. I paid the deposit, but I can't find out how much I still owe and that's a problem.

Now all I have to do is pack. I don't know if I'm emotionally ready to do that just yet. But my step-mom gave me a good idea. She said I should pack two things a day until the week before. That way the bulk is out of the way and I start slowly. I like the idea and will probably start today.

It's hard to imagine that in less than a month I'll leave my childhood town and move on to my "adult" life. Hey! I still sleep with a teddy bear. I can't be that grown up just yet. ;)

Cooking Supplies

I bought some cool kitchen supplies today!

What is the flat, green thing?

Why! It's a collapsible strainer! Very good for baggage space.

And this seemingly small cutting board...

Is not so small! :)

I also bought a 2 quart cooking pot, but that's not nearly as exciting as the collapsible strainer. I thought that was soooooo cool. There were some pretty cool things at the store I went to today. There was a finger peeler. No, it's not used to peel our finger, though that was the image that went through my mind when I read it. It's actually a vegetable peeler that slips onto your finger and you peel it that way. I think that's pretty cool too!

So, I really want to start packing. But I still have a few things that I need to get. Pots and Pans are one of them and sheets for my dorm room bed. I'm not sure how long the bed is though, so that might be a problem. I had a realization this morning...I only have a month left, basically, until I have to leave. There we go, only one month. I have so much to do! I can't believe that I'm leaving so soon! Packing, flight, travels, selling, and tranferring...and registering! AH!

FREAKING OUT! Hopefully it gets better.

Luggage is Here!

I got a call yesterday from the place I'm buying my luggage telling me that my luggage had come in. I had to wait for the larger bag to come in. It's a different version of the smaller bag. The company stopped making the kind of bag that the smaller version is and modified it. I opted to take the smaller bag they already had even though they aren't exactly the same. It's because it has some orange on it and I kind of like the orange.

Here's the first bag.
This is the bigger bag.
The two of them together.

They don't look extraordinarily big, but they really are. And this way I won't be able to over pack which is something that I am prone to do. Now I really can only take the important things. Like clothes and other necessities. And hey! I can fit a puppy in them!

My Guide Dog Puppy in Training, Rocco, breaking in my new bags.
Hmm...I wonder if Guide Dogs would notice if a puppy went missing.
I had this great picture of him looking straight into the camera, but then my pet dog barked and Rocco wanted to know what was going on.

Well, now I can start packing up some clothes into the bags. I'm not going to be wearing my jeans here in 100+ degree weather. And my sweaters a things will go in there too. It's getting closer and closer to leaving time.

Packing and Registering and Flight Times Oh My!

So, I'm still deep in the packing process. I'm not getting rid of a lot of books so I asked if I could set up my bookcases and books in the spare bedroom and got the ok. So they won't be in boxes for the next few years. My luggage should come in any day now and as soon as it does I'm going to start packing up my warmest clothes and figure out what articles are ready to go on to the next person. I think I'll keep most of my shorts here and only take one or two pairs. What else? Hmm...Well, I'm going to soon buy sheets for my dorm room and a few pots and pans because they don't provide those over there for me.

I tried to register online for classes yesterday and that didn't work. So I emailed my overseas advisor and she hasn't gotten back to me. That probably means I won't hear from her until Monday, or I guess Sunday late. That's ok with me as long as get my classes all taken care of before I leave in a month.

My plane tickets are proving a bit of a hassle. My mom said that she could come with me to help me move in which is great, but she will have already started school and we're trying to find times that will work for both of us. Her boss is only letting her miss two days, three if there's a delay. I of course would love to leave from here so that I can go to my friends open house on Thursday. She's getting married and I'm bummed I can't attend the ceremony so I would really love it if I could go to the open house. But that means that my mom would have to take a train up here. I wouldn't mind leaving early, but she can't and says that she wouldn't mind leaving Thursday evening from LAX, but I would be thinking the whole time "I could be at K's open house to wish her well." And I really want to arrive on the 18th for welcome weekend so that there is someone there to get me to the school. Maybe I will leave that Thursday so I can take the shuttle to school without my mom. I stand a better chance at talking to classmates if she isn't there with me. I don't know...but I'm freaking out man!

Hunker Down and Work

This past weekend was Fun Day up at the Guide Dog campus is San Rafael. It's a day where a ton of puppy raisers, breeder custodians, and real guide dogs and alumni come and gather in one place. Since this is a big deal for me, I've been putting off doing a lot of things like packing and getting plane tickets until this weekend was over. Now that it's over I'm really going to put my nose to the grind stone and work on packing my room and finiding flight times and...transferring Rocco. :( This is going to be a hard month for me. Not only do I have to pack away my childhood memories and somehow put my life into two suitcases but I also have to give my baby boy up.

A Question for You

Ok guys! I've been working on my shelves this morning. Now, I have a lot of decorative things such as ceramic dogs, cats, and bunnies. I've decided to keep the ceramic cats and bunnies because if I ever have a daughter I hope she'll love them. I also have a lot of Pooh Bear stuff because I love Pooh Bear. Anyway I'm going to ask you guys if you think I should keep a few of these things for my future kids.

The Medieval Pooh Bear Set. Keep or Sell?
The Spring Time Set. Keep or Sell?

The Three Musketeers Set. Keep or Sell?

Should I Keep or Sell these two dogs. The yellow lab is missing a paw and I was going to glue it back on, but the leg got lost in the move.
The ceramic things I am keeping.

Another ceramic thing I'm keeping.

This is my Angel Bunny. I've decided that she's coming with me. She's old. She's dirty. But she doesn't take up much room and I can't imagine putting her in a box.
The box of things that I'm keeping. These are all things that I want for my kids. This is going to my mom's house where I will entrust her to keep them safe and sound until I give her grand kids. If I keep them here I'm afraid they'll get sold.

Packing: Day 2

No, I haven't just been packing for 2 days, but this is the second day that I'm blogging about it, so hence the title. Anyway, I've been really trying to figure out what I should take, what I should leave, and what I should give away. I've already got a ton to give to my club's fundraiser garage sale, but I'm not even half way done. I know I'll probably get rid of most of my stuffed animals, but I don't want those to go until last. One of my leaders, Candie, has a niece. I have a soft spot for the almost 9-year-old girl (she told us constantly that her birthday was soon when she accompanied us to the Jelly Belly Fun Day) and I've decided that she is the perfect candidate for most of my stuffed animals. I've decided to give her a little stuffed dog, blue bear, and a white bunny wearing a pink dress. I called her Tea Time Bunny. Hopefully I will see her again so I can give them to her in person. As for things that I'm keeping here, I have a box. There are four rabbits in there. Two are baby toys that I've held on to all this time and the other two are toys, but they're for big kids too. :) I'm saving those for my future kids. In the box I also have some wooden letters that spell out the word L-O-V-E. On them there are brown bunnies. I'm probably going to stick my porcelain rabbits in there too. HAHA! You think I like rabbits? I do, but my favourite animal is the Panda not bunnies. Anyway, I've also put my nutcracker in there. He's a gorgeous doll. I begged my parents to get me a nutcracker when I was 6 or something right after I saw the Nutcracker Ballet. Hopefully my future kids will enjoy him as much as I have.

I've thrown away a lot of school papers that I should have thrown out long ago. I'm taking most of my binders with me because my dad told me that those things are really expensive over there. That means I'll take lined paper too of which I have a lot.

Right now my room is a disaster area. Hopefully it'll get better in the next few days.

Packing: Day 1

My Guide Dog Puppy Raising Group, PWAP, is having our annual garage sale fundraiser. With the money we make at the garage sale we pay for bus rides and ferry rides and things like that that will better prepare our puppies to become Guide Dog for blind people. So, what does this mean for me? A great place to get rid of all my extra stuff. I'm starting slowly, but I'm definitely making a dent in the junk in my room. I didn't think I'd ever have to get rid of my monkey tea candle holder, it looks like I might have to. This makes me sad. But all of my decorations and stuffed animals and books aren't going until I've actually started to pack up my room. That makes me happy.

2 months until the first day of classes. YIKES!