How is it that time passes so quickly?

Seriously.... I can't believe it has almost been a week since I last updated. I also can't believe that it is already August 20th. I have less than two months left of work... and about two and a half months before I will be in Seattle.

I have decided that the absolute last day I will work is October 21st. Andrew arrives on October 22nd and I want my time to be free to spend with him and enjoy Shanghai a little before I leave.( I'm also determined to make the nursery and apartment look awesome before I abandon the apartment, which will take time.) While he is in Jingdezhen I will probably try and do a bit of traveling around China. I want to make it out to Xi'An to see the terra cotta warriors... and I want to go to Chengdu to see the pandas. I also want to go to Yangshuo, Kunming, and a variety of other little cities I have heard good things about. I have also decided that the day I will leave China is November 5th. I plan on buying my ticket soon so that I cannot talk myself into staying longer... which is a very real possibility.

I really like living here. There are certainly times where it is exhausting and all I want is to be able to hop in my car and drive to the grocery store and drown myself in all the food that I can't get here, but for the most part I like it. It's not as easy as living in the States or somewhere that speaks a language that I am familiar with, but it's not impossible either. I worry that I will be bored out of my skull when I return to the States. There is just so much going on here... there's always something to see or something to talk about. I know for a fact that for the rest of my life a lot of my sentences will start with "In China," "When I was living in China," etc... same goes for any other place that I have lived or will live in the future. It's part of living abroad, and while people will probably come to hate me for it... I'm warning you now. I have been told by others that have lived here and returned to their homeland that it annoys the shit out of their friends after a while, and I'm a little apprehensive about this... but I trust that my friends will embrace and accept me for who I am... Now picture my voice shaking and my knees quaking a little while I say that.. That's better.

Maybe once I'm in Atlanta I can push the "play" button on my life. Lately I find myself playing the "When I..." game that I hate playing. I've never been someone to put off shit until someday or some future goal that I'm unsure is actually attainable or whatever. I'm used to doing what I want... and I hate this limbo shit. I'm looking forward to not having anymore excuses. Now if I could only figure out what the hell it is that I want to do with my life, I would be set!

In other news... the English class that I was teaching twice a week at a cafe was canceled. A part of me is sad about this because that class let me meet a lot of new people and I really enjoyed the students... but another part of me is glad to have those two nights a week back. I really didn't put as much into the class as I should have or even wanted to because I simply don't have the time or energy to dedicate to it. Working full time during the day and teaching 4 nights a week takes a toll... but now that's over and I have free time again! It will be a nice change I think.

Also.. a big change for me is that Renee left for Seattle! She left on Monday morning and will not be back to Shanghai until December 1st or so. I was sad to see her go, and will miss her, but I'm excited for her! I'm definitely set on throwing her a post-birth baby shower that will kick ass. I'll prove myself to be a good sister yet! (I hope..) So for now it is just me and Sage in the apartment, which hasn't been awkward yet and I hope that keeps up. There's no reason that it should be... we just haven't spent a whole lot of time alone because you know.. he's my sister's hubby so she's always been there. I'm not worried, though. He leaves the 4th and is taking the dog to go and stay with Renee and baby, so I'll be alone after that. I'm anxious to see how I'll fare without them here. Hopefully nothing goes horribly wrong!

I'm excited to be an aunt!! :)