Procrastination? Not this week!

     This week has been so so busy! I honestly am more thankful for it to be over than I have been for any week in a very long time. It seemed like I was just running to get somewhere and hurry through what I had to do there, only to jump back into my car and rush off again because I was already behind schedule! AAAHHH the stress!
      But, in spite of the most stressful/busy/hectic week I've had in forever, I can't deny I have been most productive. I have:

• Arranged for my second plane ticket (the one from Quito, the capital, to Macas where I'll be staying)
• Had a great Premiere Jewelry party Monday night. We originally tried to have it in June, but our jewelry lady had a death in the family. We had fun though, and got a bunch of free jewelry! I'm seriously excited about mine :)
• Did the whole dentist routine, and scheduled another appointment for next Thursday. My teeth are super sensitive, and I'm finishing up about a year and a half long process to get them back to normal. Zero fun!
• Went through my cousin Lisa's stash of construction paper, and came out with enough to fill a carry-on suitcase. I just hope I can fit it in my bags and make my weight limit...that stuff is heavy!
• Gotten my yellow fever and typhoid vaccinations. That was a trip! Lee County Health Dept. is seriously in the ghetto, and I had to share a waiting room with about a thousand mamas with their eight kids waiting for school shots. Yikes! But the guy who gave me my shots was amazing, and was just wowed by the fact I was going to Ecuador for a year. He told me 'You'll probably need these shots more than anyone I've ever given them to!' lol thanks mister! I have tried to find a flu vaccination with no luck. It just isn't that season yet in Mississippi, so I guess I'll just pray no one on my airplane coughs on me! As it is, the yellow fever shot has made me FEEL like I have the flu, so I'll just say that counts.
• Dropped off my new bible cover to be monogrammed. I already did this once, but the first place I went messed the design up and had to replace it. Fingers crossed that this one looks alright!
• Got a year's supply of contacts and had my glasses fixed up. They have been falling off my face!
• Went to my doctor and got set up for a year's worth of my prescriptions, plus a bunch of extras in case I happen to get sick with anything down there. They have doctors and clinics of course, but you just feel better knowing you're covered either way! I also got some meds for if I have one of my bad migraines. I'd hate to be in Ecuador and try to explain to a doctor that I 'need a big shot of narcotics, but I'm not an addict, really'.
• Made up a display board for my reception at church Sunday. Basically, it's just a ton of pictures from my school, and a few of the town and stuff. I haven't shown off a ton of pics yet, and everybody will fall in love with these adorable kids!

     I also got an email from my roommate Laura this week! I think she's ready for me to hurry up and get there :) But after her email I've had to rething my packing a little. Instead of all the cute sandals I'd planned to take to teach in, I'm now replacing about half of those with tennis shoes, Sperrys, and a pair of Tevas, since we have to walk a few miles each day to the school and the roads are pretty rough and dirty. I guess I'll just throw the cute shoes in my bag and change when I get there. I'm also going through my closet for more sweatshirts and jackets, since it's actually coldish in the morning! That I might actually be looking forward to...
    
     My parents let me get my belated birthday present this week too. I haven't owned a camera in years, other than my phone, so I really wanted one before I went off to Ecuador. I kind of needed one for my newsletters, plus I know I'm going to want to take tons of pics of pretty much everything I see. So my dad and I have been researching cameras. I wanted one that would take pictures like our big camera with the extendable lenses, but that would be portable. This is what I got:

     A Nikon Coolpix 8100. 12.1 megapixel, 10x wide angle optical zoom, shoots 1080p HD video, plus all the cool little gadgets like image/shake stabililization, motion detector photography, blink warning, photo retouching and red-eye fix...yeah I'm sort of in love. It shoots as good pictures as my dad's big Canon, and it's as small as a normal digital camera :) Great birthday present!

 

     Next up....a slower week, praise the Lord! My sister's EIGHTEENTH birthday is Sunday (no way she's actually that old yet, can't be) so I'm betting we'll do something for that. She's all excited because she has a date tomorrow night. Just friends, but hey...a friend date is way better than no date, especially for your bday! Sunday is also my reception at church. If you want to come, please do! 4:00 at Thaxton fellowship hall! I'd love to see everyone before I leave, or before I loose my head in this chaos!