My Bags are packed I'm ready to go...

Today is September 9--the day of departure--the day the adventure begins the 2:35pm EDT departure from Washington Reagan Airport.  YIKES!!  Myh first thought this morning was "TODAY IS THE DAY".  I had to do some last minute rearranging of my pack and am now worried that I didn't get it all put together the way I should have. I hauled my very full and heavy backpack on the metro and into the office this morning.  My colleagues all ooohhheed and ahhhhed over the backpack and the girls tried it on for size and weight.  It was fun--sort of like a sleepover in the daytime when girlfriends get together.  It continues to pour rain outside.  The thought of slogging through the rain to the metro to the airport is unappealing.  I keep reminding myself that it isn't raining in Portugal!  I'm taking with me in my heart a dear friend and her parents.  I am taking the mother of another dear friend.  I am taking my family and friends with me on this journey.  I take the little pink snake that my daughter made me to help me not be afraid.  Anais Nin wrote :"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."   I think of myself as not courageous but a lover of life.  The encouragement you have shown me through my preparation for this journey means the world to me.  I go because you encouraged me to not shrink from life but to grab it and go with it.  And with that thought I AM OFF!