Well my friends, it's the beginning of the end: my last week behind the Rusted Iron Curtain commences. One step at a time, I am getting ready to go. My mom just wrapped up her three-week visit and I miss her terribly already. My replacement has arrived and is getting to know our co-workers and routines (such as they are in this business). The packers come on Wednesday. My last day of work is Friday. We take off on Saturday. I still feel as though I have a million things to do between now and then. But at this point I'm just so happy to be in the home stretch, I don't care about the stress. I'll just keep on plugging away and looking forward to seeing my family and friends back home, a mere one week from today.