Only 20 days left until I leave for South Africa! *Cue dramatic freak-out right here.*

I've done basically all I can to prepare for this trip. I have all my shots, my prescriptions are all up to date, and all my paperwork and insurance is in order. I have extra rechargeable batteries, a new memory card for my camera (holds 2500 pics), and I'll be able to borrow a few things (alarm clock, adapter, etc.) from my parents.

I have a few small things to buy, but...

I leave for South Africa in just over a month. Crazy!

I've been trying to figure out my vacation time for a while now, and finally had to enlist the help of HR, as it was too confusing, and I was calculating a different answer every time. Yes, I do suck at math, but I was doing the calculations slowly, and was using a calculator. The way that it's set up for our company to calculate vacation time is absolutely insane, and very difficult to figure out.

They...

Instead of working this afternoon, I've been doing stuff for my South Africa trip. Oh well. It's gotta get done, and sometimes it's easier to get it done during working hours.

I've made an appointment for this afternoon to visit my doctor. I've been getting quite the run-around from various people about the shots we'll need before we leave, and how much they'll cost, etc. I think I've finally nailed everything down now, which is good. I've gotten one shot, and have...

I'm looking for a roommate at the moment, and have come across quite a few characters in the process. Take last night, for example.

It's after 10pm, and I'm getting ready for bed. I was tired, and was planning on reading in my bedroom for a while, when all of a sudden my cell phone rings.

It freaked me out, because nobody calls me that late, and it's never on my cell phone. The call display shows up "Private," and as I have all my friends/family's phone...

Every year at around this time, we have our annual staff picnic at work. Normally we have a BBQ in a nearby park, but this year we're going to the zoo!

I haven't been to the one here before, so I'm looking forward to it. I pass by it on a regular basis, and I always thought it was some rinky-dink little game farm or something, but apparently it's pretty fantastic. A co-worker goes there pretty regularly with his kids, and says it's great. I trust his judgement, so I'm...

I'm no longer going to be doing my annual swim competition in July. I made the decision this weekend. I've known for a while that it wasn't going to work out, yet I hung on to the hope for a little while longer.

Since I'm without a roommate at the moment, I'm very broke, as I'm paying the full rent and all the bills on my own, which is quite difficult on my salary. I can afford things just fine if I have someone to share the costs with, but on my own, that's hundreds of dollars...

Today has been such a good day. Work was insanely busy, but that's okay.

I got an email this afternoon from a company that I did a survey for, and I've won their monthly draw! My prize is a Sirius Radio thing, and a 6 months subscription! Very cool! I rarely listen to the radio, so it wouldn't be worthwhile to keep and use. So, I'm going to try to sell it. Apparently the whole package is worth a few hundred dollars, which I could definitely use. I'm so broke that any kind of...

So my iPod isn't dead after all. This is just so weird. I thought I'd plug it in one last time this evening, just for the hell of it. If that didn't work, I was gonna try what you had suggested, Jase.

I walked away from the computer for about an hour or so to watch the end of the hockey game.

I just picked it up now, and it works!!! There was barely any battery showing, but at least I could get it to work!

This is...

I have a U2 iPod, and I bought it almost 4 years ago, I think. It's served me well up until now.

And now it is dead. I have attempted to charge it several times, but the battery must be completely gone, because it is doing absolutely nothing. I’ve tried every trick in the book, and looked up stuff on the Apple website, but I have a feeling the iPod is no longer with us.

Crap. That means I’m going to have to buy a new one before I go to Africa...

Today I've been a bit of a jumble of emotions. My friend who I mentioned in my last entry is having her masectomy today. I've been thinking about her all day. I wasn't able to get in touch with her to find out which hospital she'll be at, and for how long, and if she'll want visitors or not. Hopefully I'll be able to reach her boyfriend and find this out. I'd love to go visit her if she'll be staying longer than a day or two, and bring her some of her favourite goodies.

******...

Yesterday I found out that a good friend of mine has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She's in her early 30's, which is so incredibly young. I was devastated when I found out.

My friend is strong and brave, and supremely confident that she's going to get through this okay. I love her attitude, and I know she will make it. They've caught it in the early stages, which is a good thing. She'll be having a partial masectomy next week, and depending on what they find, she may have...

As I ever so briefly mentioned in my last entry, I am headed to South Africa this summer!

I'm going with my church, and it's a 3 week trip to a town about 300km south of Johannesburg! We'll be spending time with the people in the surrounding villages, helping them with chores, building houses, working in AIDS wings of some local hospitals, playing sports with the kids, and tons of other things. I'm so excited how this has all come about. Everything's happened so incredibly fast....

Well, the race is finally over, and I did it! It was an emotional rollercoaster of a day, and it’s just been incredible.

Yesterday morning I was up at 5:15am. I had tossed and turned all night, so I didn’t get much sleep. I was so nervous and stressed out, that it was really difficult to calm myself down enough to sleep for very long. I was at our meeting spot at 6:15, and the bus left 15 minutes later. I’m normally quiet in the mornings, but my teammates could tell that...

I think I'm ready. But I'm definitely very antsy and worked up. I've never done anything this huge before, so it's a bit nerve-wracking. I was looking at the website the other day, and almost 56,000 people have signed up. Wow. That's a LOT of people.

Today I'm not going to do much - I'm going hockey jersey shopping and for lunch with my best friend this afternoon. Then I'll come home, pack my stuff up, maybe watch a movie or two, and go to bed really early. I have to...

I'm wasting time, so I felt like doing this survey.

Are you an adult?
Sometimes.

How old are you?
28

How old do you feel?
I don't know. Sometimes I feel younger, but never older than what I really am.

Do you consider yourself a grown-up?
Some of the time.

Do kids call you mr/miss/mrs?
I avoid kids.

Did you graduate high school?
Yes

Did you go...