Five Months in Illinois + One Second Grader = The Best.

I have 55 days until I get on the plane. 21 days left of high school here in the States.

I've been getting really, really focused on getting ready to leave, to say the least.

On the other hand, in the few months I've had between camp and leaving for Swaziland, I've been working as a nanny for a seven-year-old named Jimmy. For the record, he's pretty much the coolest kid ever.

"WHOA! DIANA COME HERE AND LOOK AT THIS! MY JACK-O-LANTERN IS ROTTEN! CAN WE DO THIS EXPERIMENT? WHEN DO WE GET TO GO SEE THE CHICKENS AGAIN? LOOK AT THIS BUBBLE IN THE WATER BALLOON - IT LOOKS LIKE A HEAD! I'M GLAD YOU DON'T DRIVE A RED CAR. BULLS DON'T LIKE RED. CAN YOU TELL ME A HISTORY STORY? I'M STEAMING, DIANA! LET'S PLAY THE STATES GAME! CAN I PLAY ON THE COMPUTER? NO? YOU'RE A POO-FACE! SORRY FOR CALLING YOU A NAME! WHEN'S MOMMA GOING TO BE HOME? LOOK AT MY DRAWING FROM SCHOOL! I MADE A ZOMBIE! I'M GOING TO THROW THIS FOOTBALL AT THE WINDOW AS HARD AS I CAN AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS! I WANT TO BE A CARPENTER, BUT A FOOTBALL PLAYER FIRST! I DON'T WANT TO PRACTICE MY VIOLIN! LISTEN TO THIS SCREECHING NOISE I CAN MAKE! HOW DO I WRITE THIS LETTER IN CURSIVE? CAN I HAVE A COOKIE? CAN I HAVE FOUR COOKIES? CAN I FEED YOUR LIZARD A CRICKET? YOU REALLY SHOULD CLEAN OUT YOUR CAR! RACE YOU TO THE DOOR!"

And so, with this, I've learned to appreciate the everyday things - jumping in the leaves, playing a board game, making a jack-o-lantern, running back to the car to get a blanket at a football game, going to see the chickens, fishing, doing kitchen science experiments, throwing a football back and forth across the living room, complaining about homework, listening to rock music really, really loud while driving with the windows down. These are the sorts of things that I'll miss once I'm gone, but sometimes forget to appreciate when they're there.

Just kidding  - I couldn't possibly forget about these things when Jimmy is around :)

So, yeah. 55 days left in America, including 21 more days of hanging out with the coolest second grader you'll ever meet, and then getting on a plane to Africa. I can't complain :)