Quality Family Time

I think I'm on London time already.  I woke up at 5:30am for the second time in a row!  I know I'm excited to go to London, but this is too much - body, do you hear me?  I need my sleep!

We saw Toy Story 3 last night as a family - it's very us to have dinner at home and then to see a kids' film and to count that as quality family time!  I think we're all regressing to when Sarah and I were in elementary school.  Anyway, the movie was fantastic.  There were seriously scary parts - if I had been younger I think I would have been a little freaked out.  But then again, a lot of the scary bits were scary because they had adult themes, so maybe they would have gone over kids' heads.  Obviously - because this is a kids' movie - I sobbed for the last ten minutes straight.  (I won't tell you why, though I will tell you that it was mostly happy crying!)

Two bonus things from the film: a trailer for another funny pulls-at-your-heartstrings animated movie called Despicable Me and a cute Google ad before the movie - have you guys seen the Search Stories adverts for Google? My favorite one is "Parisian Love."  Watch it!  They did one for the new Toy Story, too, and it's adorable.

There's a bit at the end of the movie (I'm not really giving anything away here) when Andy's mom gets emotional because he's going off to college and she says something like, "I wish I could always be with you!"  I absolutely bawled - I've been so focused on how amazing London will be and how much I'm looking forward to seeing Jon that I forgot I am leaving my family.  Suddenly, at the end of the movie last night, I realized that I'm not just moving to somewhere, I'm also moving away from somewhere.  I know we have the magic of Skype (and you know I'm gonna use it like mad!) and we'll visit as often as we can, but it's not the same as being with someone every day.  I think, actually, that it will be a harder adjustment for me to not live with my parents than it was to live with them when I first moved home.  I'm really going to miss them!  Mom and Dad, if you read this - I love you so much.  (I swear I'm not tearing up as I write this... well, not much.)

Last full day in town - I've got it packed full of activities.  First up: a massage!  Then some personal appointments, a couple hours with the girls I babysit for plus dinner with their family (also to be missed like crazy, but more on that later) and then out with my girlfriends!  Luckily I'm almost all packed, so there won't be much to do tomorrow.  Must be at the airport at 4:30pm - 32.5 hours from now.

(I can't believe my first weekend in London is already chock-full of things to do, too!  Crazy.)