So...funny story about that

I can't say that parts of this whole planning for Spain trip have been enjoyable, but Tuesday completely took the cake.

I spent the majority of the day doing small things to get ready for the trip - picking up a photo album that will be a gift to my host family, developing pictures to put in the album, etc. Well, that was all well and good, until 4 o'clock rolled around.

I felt a UTI coming on, and I figured that probably wasn't a good thing to have to deal with in Spain, so I phoned the trusty ol' mom-a-nator and she got me an appointment with the doctor. Keep in mind, I had three HUGE glasses of water before I went and got it all checked out.

So, I go to the doctor, and lo and behold, that's what it is - a UTI. Wonderful. They hand me the prescription and don't offer to phone it in, so I figured I would just drive it out to Target, have it filled, pick up the few things that I needed, and get the heck out. Not quite that easy.

I hopped in Barney, and much to my dismay, when I turned on the A/C, the radio went off. So I turned the A/C off, and the radio came back on. Did it again - same thing. Then I turned the A/C off, and the radio stayed off, too. Great. By this time, the car is vibrating violently, and jerking like crazy when I go from a complete stop to driving. This can't be good. And I'm in the middle of the busiest street in Jeff, so there's really no pulling over to the side. I finally make my way closer to Target, look down and see that my speedometer is no longer working. Wonderful. On the last left turn into Target, I figured the car would just die. But somehow it jerked its way into the parking lot and proceeded to bite the dust right as I pulled into the parking lot.

Great. I'm stuck at Target, and no one I know is in town. Mom is in a meeting til 7, Dad is mowing the lawn and can't hear the phone, Wendy is out of town, Sean is in St. Louis, my aunt is in St. Louis...so I'm stuck at Target.

I go ahead and drop off my prescription, then shop around for a bit. I finally have everything in my cart, then go to pick up my prescription, which they proceeded to fuck up somehow, then wanted to talk to me about my trip for about 17 hours. At this point, those three HUGE glasses of water come into play, and I have to pee really badly. So, I pay for the prescription, but I have all the other crap in my cart and don't think it's a good idea to leave it outside the bathroom unattended. So I make a mad dash to pay for it all, run it out to the car, and then run back inside to the bathroom. Sadly, I guess I didn't make the mad dash quite fast enough and pissed in my pants right as I walked into the bathroom. All down my leg, in my shoe, on the floor - the whole bit.

And I just couldn't help but laugh. I tried to wait for my short to dry, but they didn't, so I just pulled my shirt down over them and went and sat in the Starbucks and proceeded to call Ev and tell her the whole glorious story.

What can I say? A UTI, shot-to-hell-car, and pissing your pants makes for a great day.

On the lighter side, things have started to look up since then. Barney is fixed - no worries there. I have medicine for the UTI and the wonderful thing called Xanax for my nearly-panic attacks.

It's not that I don't think the trip won't be wonderful, and it's not that I haven't been waiting for it forever. It's just that so many things worry me - the flight, losing my luggage, not being able to understand my host family/have them understand me, sitting next to a fat lady with B.O. that gets Cheeto cheese on my bookbag on the airplane, not getting the bus from the airport to Oviedo. Flight delays. Not being able to sleep.

Name anything, and I can bet you I've already thought about it and worried about it tenfold. Xanax has been good to me so far, though. I might need to take some again soon.

Today, however, was a great day. Incredibly relaxing, but I got a lot done. Made third copies of all my papers, hit up Target for some necessities, and got some more moolah from the bank.

Then, the pilgrimage of all pilgrimages - Hard Rock Cafe! It was wonderful.

What made it even more wonderful? Seeing a platinum record from Recovering the Satellites. I was beginning to worry that no Hard Rock had any Crows memorabilia, and it was starting to dishearten me. But it's all good now!

So, currently, I am a ball of worried emotions. Or more accurately, nerves. Like I said, it's not that I'm not going to enjoy it or think it's the experience of a lifetime. I'm just damn nervous and can't control it. I'm sure I'll be fine in 48 hours when I'm in my Spanish home tucked safely in bed.

See you on the other side of the Atlantic!