Gerbils under 12 don't fly free...

I know they can't actually go to Europe with me - both because than I would be the Crazy Gerbil Lady and becayse they got carsick on the short drive to the hospital to visit a friend today. It would be nice to have someone/thing to talk to hin Europe though...

So the big leaving day is fast approaching. Two more days of work and I can concentrate on packing and singing.

Nothing else to report today.

No Big Brother in Marmande either...

...I guess I will just have to read the recaps.. it is just a silly show after all, and whill certainly pale beside any of the upcoming adventures. But it so much summer fun, and I will miss it! Oh well, maybe there IS France Big Brother.. last year I watched some of the Germany BB and the people (girls AND guys) on the show were really nasty!

Right now I'm trying to put together some mix tapes for travelling. There are so many great songs, and I NEED the right songs for the right situation, of course... so when will I need Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby got Back?"On the train from Rome to Munich? In the Vatican? Perhaps in Notre Dame... see, a girl has GOT to be prepared for anything...

Booking a hotel in Italian...

...it is easier than I thought it would be! And it is done, and it is an adorable place, by the mountains between Roma and Pescara. There is even a pool there. I hopt it really is a classy place.. we shall see, I guess...

I am getting a haircut tomorrow, which is of note only because it is one more thing needing doing on my to-do list. I'm not sure what I am going to do with it yet, but I hope it will look *cute!*

Ack, this is boring even me... but preparations are going well.

Has anyone read this yet?

This and that and a bit more to do..

What did I do today... I decided on the Sulmona hotel and I phoned the nunnery in Rome where I plan to stay. Why should they talk English? WHY should things be easy? So we spoke in Italian and they said to fax them a room request (or something) and the fax didn't go through. So I am tired. So I am going to bed.. no-one KNOWS about this blog yet, and no-one is reading it yet so...

Oh, I packed some more things too... some toiletries and a hairbrush.. and picked the pants to bring (can never have enough black...good motto!)

No Big Brother in Salzburg...

...Maybe it is for the best, since the group this year is really silly. Still, I always seem to be lieavin gtown in the middle of the most interesting trashy reality shows...ah well, I can already read the online posts about the show...

So tonight I bought a ticket on DeutscheBahn (the German National train line) online - it is only 29E instead of almost 70E! I hope the timing will all work out, though, since I can't change the time or the date. I suppose if something goes wrong at least it will be a funny story for this silly blog of mine.

I *am* getting closer to the goal of TOTAL PREPAREDNESS, which is worthy of all caps because I have never travelled this prepared before. I even packed bandaids!

So, to recap, today I booked a train ticket, packed bandaids and a little stuffed bunny (because no girl can travel without a little stuffed friend), I booked a hotel room for one night in London for my sis and I on Expedia, phoned the hotel and found out the closest tube stop, emailed 2 hotels in Sulmona Italy and one hotel in Vienna about availability, and bought my ISIC card. (So now I am officially a student!) Also I sent in a competition application to Belgium.

I also collected a bunch of cute little earrings and bracelets to bring with me. Packing must be so much easier for a guy~ Tomorrow I will hopefully book the Sulmona hotel and find out if my poor video camera can be fixed at all.

I know, I know, this isn't interesting yet, but it will be... 10 days until sis comes home, and 22 days until I leave. The garden is just planted... I am not READY to leave yet!

So I am 2 days closer to leaving. (That is still 30 days AWAY from leaving) so I hauled out the suitcase and started to pack. Now, one of my sweaters takes up 1/4 of the suitcase. But, but.. I look SKINNY in the sweater, how does it take so much room? I am so confused, maybe I should have taken more physics...

Not a Blogger...really, *really!*

So, this isn't going to be one of those "oooh, I am soooo orange today (insert smily face here)" pages. In just over a month I am off to Europe for almost three months, to make a go of opera singing professionally. This is the easiest way to let friends and relatives know what I am up to. So, that is all. I have to go think of some good pseudonyms for everyone I know...