Every once in awhile, I repeat in my head, "I am having an operation." It seems weird. "I am having an operation." IV's, anesthesia, drowsiness, pain, nervousness, fear, prescriptions, vicodin...This stuff usually happens to other people. Not me.

"I am going to Chicago on Saturday." Wow. That's weird. I can't imagine being there. "I am going to fly on a real plane for the first time on Saturday." Hmm. Nice! I'm excited. Strange. That sort of thing I never do. Other people do that sort of stuff. Not me.

"I am going to New Zealand in a month." Whoa. Isn't that weird? I certainly can't imagine it. "I will be teaching, I will be visiting Sydney, I will be riding a bike to work, I will fall asleep to the sounds of the ocean, I will meet a woman I've never met before and I will live in her home, I will be away from everything and everyone I know for three months..." Funny how strange that is. I'm not supposed to do that sort of thing. Other people are. Not me.

So there's a lot of things coming up in the next month, wouldn't you say? Things that I can't really imagine happening but inevitably will happen. Crazy. Things that aren't supposed to happen to me, but they are. I feel like...I'm living someone else's life, you know? Or watching a movie. Or the main character of a book. Strange.