Some last thoughts

Three days to go until I board my plane for the 13 hour flight that I've imagined for so long.

It's silly, but I keep thinking in terms of "lasts" before I leave for Taiwan. This is the last weekday I'll be in the US for a while. Yesterday I watched "Survivor" with my kids at Chelsea's for the last time. As I write this, I'm eating leftover tom kha gai, the last time I'll be eating my favorite dish (in the US). Even though my kids and I have discussed our short- and long-term reuniting goals, both in the US and overseas, I still break down when I think in terms of "last time" for hugging them.

To counteract these bittersweet, emotional thoughts, I'm trying to concentrate on the many, many "firsts" I'll be experiencing once I'm overseas. Most of these firsts are conjectural, of course; I mean, I haven't even stepped foot yet in my new country. In the coming days and weeks, it remains to be seen which of my imagined visions of life in Taiwan were on the money, and which were wildly off the mark.

Below is the weather report for Fortuna and Taipei. Note that the current temperature and humidity levels, on the left side, are as of 1:00pm Fortuna time, but 4:00am Taipei time! Guess I won't have to worry about dry skin.