Where in the world have the last 5 months gone?????

Holy cow...

Last time I updated, I'd just booked tickets and finalized my itinerary. Now I leave in FOUR DAYS! Where has the time gone!!???!!?!?!

Pretty much everything is in place as I'd hoped. The lovely Renee will be joining me for the 2nd part of the trip, which should be much fun seeking out the gelaterie and fun shops all over Tuscany.

I got my new camera, the fantastic Olympus EP-1, and cannot wait to try out all its features in the most beautiful place in the world.

I managed to snag a (free!!!!) cheese tour in Parma through the cheese consorzio, so I hope that's awesome. Rented a car, which should be an...interesting.... experience :)

Now if only my body would cooperate! I decided to get my 2 bottom wisdom teeth out a month before leaving, then a few days ago my back started hurting badly and now I have a sore throat and am hoping it's nothing worth worrying about. When you have been saving and dreaming and preparing and planning something for basically 2 years, you just want it to be perfect! So, fingers crossed.

This weekend is all about packing and doing the final little things. I'm mostly packed and my suitcase (the 5pound Sub-0-G rolling carry-on) is about 1/3 empty. But man, getting down to 18 pounds is not easy! Hopefully Swiss Air is not too strict about weight.

So, it's ridiculous that I'm leaving so soon. The biggest thing left to hope and pray for is good weather. Of course, rainy Italy is better than no Italy, but we're hoping for the best!

I think I'll have internet the first several days of the trip. I plan on blogging like last time. Even when I won't have internet I'll write up every day and post it all when i get home!