Raindrops hitting the window panes.

It is raining over here in sweet little Grenoble. And it is a beautiful kind of rain. The kind that turns the sky a bashful sort of gray, with the temperature just warm enough to leave the window open and stare outside. It is the kind of rain that I never thought I would miss this much. It reminds me of home.

I know that a lot of the time I mention how homesick I can get, and I am sure that is completely normal for anyone that moves away from their familiar. But I just want to remind everyone that I am having a wonderful time. I am so happy and blessed to be here. I know that I will be ready to head home and then probably will want to come straight back, but I am happy right now. I am sure the bubble with burst soon enough but for now I will just smile stupidly at everyone (except that drunk dude I met on the tram. He was one bottle of wine too loud).


The time I have left here is winding down, yet I feel like I still have so much left to do. Especially in the next few days. I leave for Italy (!) on Friday morning but I might not survive tomorrow. I have teaching and classes and packing left to do. But the fact that at 9:30 on Friday morning I will be sitting in a second-class train car with "A Room with a View" on my way to Italy is like my own form of Ritalin.

I have been spending a lot of time thinking about my future. I am building new dreams, since I have fulfilled my dreams of going to Europe, visiting Paris and Dublin, and learning a little French. Now I am focusing on what I want to accomplish in school and in my career, where I plan on being in ten years. And I plan on big things happening for me.

It's a strange feeling being perfectly content with your life.

This is how I would look if I was a teenager in the 80s. I think my had that couch.