Aug 5, 2008

Sayonara!

Do you ever experience the following?

You make plans for something really far in the future, and you try to imagine it actually happening, but you can't even ever really believe it's real, and it just seems too far away, and you think that "the event" will just never "be here"...

So you just live your life...take your kids to school, watch your kids finish school, sell your house, (barely), watch your husband graduate from a Pediatric Dental residency, drive from Rhode Island to D.C., then to some other state you don't remember, then to Alabama, then to Florida, then to Alabama, then to Florida, then back to Alabama to watch your husband graduate from Officer Training School, then back to Florida, and then finally to Georgia...

Where you drop off your car. Leaving you entirely homeless, and car-less, and soon to be cell-phone-less...

And then you find yourself sitting at a computer, in the Executive Suite of some hotel, contemplating the next day which includes a non-stop 14-hour flight to Tokyo, followed by an airPORT change, and another short flight to your destination? Which is in a foreign country. That's foreign. Like really foreign. As in, all you know about it is what's in "Memoirs of a Geisha"...

And you have a nervous twitch that has developed under your left eye over the last few days which is now going pretty much non-stop...(Seriously. Non-stop!)

Have you ever had that experience?
'Cause I'm having it, and I've gotta say, it's a little crazy...
and scary...
and evidently stressful because the vein under my left eye wont stop twitching. (seriously!!!)

So anyway, basically what I'm trying to say here is...
WISH ME LUCK!!!
And patience...
and cheerfulness...
and optimism...
and any other positive traits you can think of that will help me survive the next 24-48 hours...

Because I don't have a single Valium on me and I'm going to need all the help I can get!!!


Now lets all go to my side-bar play-list and listen to "Turning Japanese" by the Kinks. It seems like the only reasonable thing to do in this situation.


And did I already say "wish me luck"?!?!

Sayonara!!!

19 comments:

WOG said...

sushi on a conveyor belt, now thats livin.

Anonymous said...

Good Luck! (and eat a banana or two for the eye twitch, your body needs potassium)

Marni said...

GOOD LUCK! You're going to have a FABULOUS time! We'll miss you - but can't wait to hear about all your adventures! *HUGS*

Tanya D said...

It's a crazy feeling and there's only more craziness ahead of you. I had it when we moved to Switzerland. Living in an apt with no furniture for 3 months while we waited for our stuff to arrive made it even more crazy. Just keep busy and ask for lots of help. What an exciting adventure!

DianeM said...

I'm sending a million hugs and best wishes your way. I hope you can feel them. If not, I'll resend them. OK, you should be all set. I'm also sending hope that you guys will be able to join us in Hawaii in May. I'm sending this primarily to Doogie, since he's the one being the big meanie. Hugs and love to my favorite Dub familia.

Jessi said...

I think I would be numb. I hope you learn to love Japan and that you have many, many wonderful experiences!!!

(And you do have portable DVD players for the flight, right? If not, you can rent them at the airport from In-Motion.)

FOX said...

Good luck Em!! I really did listen to your suggested song choose. The kids thought it was funny!!!!

We are going to miss you guys and are excited to visit!!!

You should have asked me for valium!! Sheesh 14 hours on a plane with 4 young boys... you should have asked me for 2 valiums!!!

Can't wait to hear about your adventures!!!! And I kind of like the stuff that makes your eye twitch... it makes your blog more interesting!!!

FOX said...

Did you notice that i counted doug as one of your little boys?

Christina said...

Best of luck! What an adventure!

Mrs. Dub said...

i found myself in the same situation when i tried to envision you guys actually going to japan today. still feels pretend. when you start to send pics and have adventurous (and witty as usual) blog posts, then i will believe you.

now, i will return to praying that you packed enough diapers and games.

Girls Galore said...

Emmy, I've spent hours pouring over the Japanese language and have the perfect solution for your plane trip. Practice the following until you have it down perfectly. Then, when you walk on the plane, look for a sweet, grandmotherly-like japanese woman and say the words you've practiced slowly and clearly:

Konnichiwa, Nihongo [yoku] hanasemasen. O-genki desu ka?
Toire wa doko 14 desu ka? Toire wa doko desu ka? Dōmo arigatō.

TRANSLATION: Hello, this is my son. Isn't he cute?? Would you like to hold him for 14 hours? You would? Oh, thank you.

That should get you through it. Love you and miss you already!

La

Linz said...

Good luck Em!!! It'll be great! I am sending you all sorts of positive vibes and you are in our prayers!! Best wishes!!

*******Happy Thoughts******

Paul and April said...

Wow that is amazing. I can't believe you are going to Japan! My brother is in Nagoya and loves it there. He says the food is wacky but you get used to it. Can I say love sashimi!

Jenn said...

Good Luck! Can't wait to read about the trip there and the adventures of starting your new phase of life!

Alyson | New England Living said...

Good luck! And a good-bye from New England!

Melissa Abby said...

Bye Warners! Good luck and we can't wait to hear about everything!

Shelly said...

I'm reading The Bean Trees for summer reading.

Good luck in Japan. I promise it won't be as scary as you think. I hope I can visit you sometime soon.

I love you guys!

Beeswax said...

Just remember what is REALLY important: your blog traffic will go up, as we all click over to see what happens...

Will it be like a high speed bullet train wreck?

NO! Course not!

(I'm sure it is exactly like Memoirs of a Geisha. I hope you read it twice, like I did. To study up.)

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

My name is Paul Harris and i would like to show you my personal experience with Valium.

I am 55 years old. Have been on Valium for 20 days now. I decided to get off of all benzos after much reading and having a friend who was abusing Xanax kill himself (may have been other issues, too). I was taking about 4 mg of Klonopin daily. I read a lot of the reseach on benzos by Dr. Heather Ashton, one of the world's leading authorities on benzos. I was shocked to see her equivalency table for Klonopin and Xanax. 1 mg of Klonopin or Xanax is equel to 20 mg of Valium. That's right, 20!! Plus, Klonopin and Xanax have nasty side effects. That did it for me. No more benzos!! Because Valium has the longest half-life of any benzo and the least side effects, I'm using it and water-titration to get off Klonopin, a method widly used in Europe. 10% reduction every 10-14 days. So far so good.

I have experienced some of these side effects -
Headache, drowsiness in the morning. Hard time getting my Dr. to prescribe and go along with treatment program. Valium supposedly is far less addicting than some other benzos, with far fewer side effects. I hope that turns-out to be true.

I hope this information will be useful to others,
Paul Harris