It's almost here...

Well, I have 4 days until I leave for Boston. This means that the past week or so has been a marathon of running around, figuring out how to pack everything I need for two months into a bag that gets progressively smaller by the minute, and tying up all loose ends before I leave. Which means training has come to a standstill.

I finally got my affordable housing research done and submitted, which is a big plus. I think Skip (my leader, who is in charge of making sure all of us do our research) was about to strangle a few of us for not getting it turned in on time (or even close to on time). But, it was done, done awesomely, and I am ready to present on the history of housing practices from 1990-present, including the current problems with subprime mortgages. Speaking of which, we close on my house on June 18th! It got a new roof this week, too. I'm so excited. I'm also not a subprime mortgage, I swear. :)

So, I quit my job last Friday (freedom!), moved out of my apartment on Saturday, broke up with the boyfriend Monday, and drove down to West Palm Beach (where my parents live) on Monday. I've been attempting to pack and get ready for the trip down here, which is more difficult than it may seem. My entire life has been packed into a trailer, which means any time I need anything, I have to go into the trailer (which is about 130 degrees in the middle of the day) and find the box it's in, open the box, and retrieve the item. Had I thought this through better, I would have packed for Bike and Build before I packed my entire life away. But, I didn't, so it's been an adventure. Also, I have had to get so many little things that I didn't think about still (and some big things). A quick dry camping towel, new digital camera (Canon Powershot SD870) because I wasn't going to bring any of the 9 cameras I already own on the trip, and lots of bike gear. Then I had to ship my bike to Boston.

This brings me to a huge, huge thanks. Wheels of Wellington, and Stan Kilbas, the owner of the shop, have been awesome. They tuned up my bike for me, boxed it, shipped it, and gave me more gear than I know what to do with. I have energy gel, nutrition bars, Camelbak Elixir, spare tubes, and really nice spare tires. All of the gear was donated, which has saved me so much money as I've prepared for this trip. Also, my dad used to ride with Stan, and I found out that they used to call my dad "The Pope." I was unaware of this, and am debating incorporating this nickname into my everyday vocabulary with Dad. We'll see how it goes.

In other thanks and great news, I met my fundraising goal! I have $4009! Thanks goes to:

Roberta Sickerman
Gainesville Area Women's Network
Harold Murphy
Paul and Pamela Jahn
Ashley Jahn

I can't believe I finally met it. It's such a huge relief, as now my entire savings can go toward fixing up the house, instead of Bike and Build. I really can't thank everyone who donated and helped with fundraisers enough. Without all of you, there is no way I would be able to do this. Your support means so much to me!

Well, I have to go attempt to get way too much stuff into way too small of a bag. Packing is a bit of a challenge right now, and it must be done before Tuesday!