"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..."

The lists are made, the bags are packed, and I'm at a standstill until tomorrow morning's frantic last sweep-through and cram.

It is a daunting thing to get in the car with nothing but a map, and no clue as to what to expect.

I have probably packed too much, but it's hard to know how to do these things.

I will miss the comforts of home, I will miss a routine.

And how I hate being away from Chad.... that goes without saying. We will see each other when he visits for the few days after Easter, and then the possible second trip is quite tentative.

One thing I am looking forward to: the melting away of church and teaching stress, and as I get (geographically) further away from it all, I will begin to get into the midset of being a Singer. Opening myself, fully, to the expression of what I have within me - with no inhibitions whatsoever, there just isn't time for them - and to what I will be given to learn.

Overall, I hope to make contacts, secure some better future work, to grow as an artist. To continue my struggle to be completely open and vulnerable onstage, while maintaining healthy boundaries offstage. I am not my colleagues' mom, counselor, or manager. I am a colleague, and will remember where that line is - if I have learned anything from previous away-from-home singing engagements, it is that setting those boundaries is the #1 ensurer of sanity and peace.