So hard to say good bye

Well, I have to say that I am blessed beyond measure. I have the greatest friends. I have a wonderful family. Just in general, I am so blessed. I love that so many people care about me. I do have to say thought that is is really absurd how many times I have been told to "be careful". It is really funny in a way. As if I had in mind to be careless and do as many unsafe things as possible. I realize that I am sort of a ditz at times and not always the most sane person, but really what is meant by "be safe"? One friend clarified last night that it meant I should not go topless. Hmm, because I was almost planning on not bringing any shirts...or not. Another friend suggested that I wear a full hijab, or full Muslim black cloth that covers all but my eyes. Umm anyway, so thank you to all who are concerned, and probably for good reason, the world is probably not as kind as I naively believe it to be. But anyway, I will try to "be safe" and not do things like drink water from lakes, or lick public phones, or run with scissors or whatever else people are afraid I might do. Mostly I am not afraid of the things that I have choices about, but about the things that I have no control over, mainly, all the other crazy people or this world. One person told me not to talk to strangers, and another said "What? Thats why shes going, to talk to strangers!" I think it is fantastic, I love all the strange and sortid advice I have been given. It kind of reveals peoples personalities. The second most common piece of advice I have been given is to "have fun!" This one I have more control over. Its all about my attitude. I already have to keep that in check because I have certainly run into many problems planning this trip today alone, not to mention the past few months. Today it took me 3 trips to Target to get my glasses fixed. I started getting a little bit stressed, but the lady helping me was so amazingly nice, she offered to go out of her way to help me on her own time. So I guess that proves that there are still good people out there in the not so kind world. Actually I know for a fact that there are a lot of them. Thats why it will be hard to say goodbye. I cried when I said goodbye to my best friend after spending a wonderful day yesterday preparing for and throwing our big Christmas party together (which was awesome! thanks to all who came, it was so great to see you!). I expect that the next few days will be just as wonderful, spending them with my family even though it will be hard to say goodbye. Well, three days in counting and I need to get packing, so I'll leave more random thoughts here later