Eleven days

Greetings from the UCAR MJO workshop in Irvine, CA. Not much to report directly from here (but a crazy amount of thoughts/emotions running thru my head; see below), other than some good ideas about my research and how to write-up my upcoming MJO paper.

In eleven (11) days, I'll have packed up all my things and will be driving eastward to NC. My brother Charles will receive my furniture & car, which is great for the two of us b/c he will move into a new house/apartment in a few weeks and doesn't yet have furnishings.

As I've told a few people recently, my mental/emotional state is a mess. I long to spend quality time with friends I might not see again, but I am somehow reluctant to ask them to hang out (if you read this & live in Norman, please ask me to spend time w/you!!) It's almost as if I'm in denial of my departure, unable to reconcile the thoughts of leaving and therefore just not thinking about them. It also could be that I'm super busy: this week in CA, Thu-Fri in Norman, Sat-Sun in North Carolina for my 10-year high school reunion (D.H. Conley high school in Greenville), then sometime next week in Houston for my visa appointment, then packing & driving east on the 18th. On top of that I'm supposed to meet with my advisor each morning next week for a few hrs and hammer out the final draft of my MJO paper to submit to J. Climate. Wow, Santiago will be a refreshing break!

Those of you who have experience with moving / leaving, what advice do you have for me? I so want to enjoy my final days in Norman. I want to maximize each experience, time with each person, making sure that I get to hang out with the people I care about most. How do I accomplish that? My prayers now are for peace -- and for divine appointments, that I get quality time in spite of my reluctant emotional state.

Thanks for YOUR prayers. And if you're in Norman, ask me to hang out with you. I want to!