Reality is setting in

I walked to the Ferry Building for lunch and as I looked around at all of the seasonal decorations, I realized that this is my last holiday season in the Bay Area for a while. This is my NINTH Yule here and I've celebrated in a myriad of ways from being knee-deep in children's toys (even though there were no children present) to playing pool at the Shotwell with a drunk Mexican man who cried on my shoulder about never really experiencing a childhood for himself because he had his first kid at 14. So this time next year I will be strolling the streets of Rome or Florence, freezing my ASS off, BUT-freezing my ass off in a beautiful new country, learning a new language, and putting my adaptability skills to the test. I'm excited, anxious and terrified, and I can't wait!