the countdown begins...

Yup.  48 hours to go...  I leave Sunday at 4:24pm. 

Am I ready?  Mentally, pretty much.  Physically?  Well...  I pre-packed last night and was happy to see that each rolling duffel weighs about 40 pounds.  Even with the few things left to pack, I think I'll come in comfortably under my 50-pound limit.  I love that sort of surprise. 

Today, Mom and I wandered around suburban Atlanta;our goal was to find a couple of souvenir tea towels and have lunch in downtown Stone Mountain.  Instead, we had a surreal shopping experience in a flea market sort of antique store and found cool spoon holders made by a potter in Stone Mountain and little reindeer figures carved by another local artist.  After all, no one is insisting that gifts to my host family have peaches, peanuts, and Confederate soldiers on them.

I haven't been to downtown Stone Mountain in 10 years or so and  many of the cool little stuff shops are now empty.  A little sad, we decided to try for lunch in downtown Lilburn. The Blue Rooster, a wonderful breakfast/lunch cafe and bakery, closed its doors January 8th.  Again, a little sad, we headed to downtown Lawrenceville.

Success!  Along the way I stopped at Central Gwinnett (haven't been there since I graduated... many years ago).  Months ago, I'd come across the suggestion that a high school yearbook can be an excellent teaching tool for TEFL classes.  It's also cool to look through and see how the high school experience has changed (and not changed).

Lunch at the Uptown Cafe in Lawrenceville.  Mediterranean.  Soooooo good (truly, if you're thinking you might be up for a drive, go there, you will be happy).

Now it is time to un-pre-pack and pack for good.