The big trip is looming closer. We have arranged for neighbors to keep an eye on the house. We have arranged for a friend to open the house and bring food to it the day we arrive. We have a mountain guide and two "kids-and-family" city tours booked.
I haven't started panicking yet. I'm still simply excited.
For some reason, the part about it that I'm most excited for? Just having Mark be off work for weeks, plural, and traveling with us instead of apart from us. Lucky, lucky family that he was able to gather together all that time off in one place.
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Last weekend I packed the 8yo's clothes completely, and gathered into a laundry basket the 4yo's clothes.
My 8yo daughter's clothes, shoes, and accessores all fit in two nylon bags in that plastic bin. I expect to manage the same for the 4yo's. Later this weekend I'll pack mine and the baby's.
Here we have a now-overflowing crate of random small things we want to take with us:
Toothbrushes, gum, sunhats, disposable baby spoons, document wallet, guide books, glove cats, roll of masking tape…
Mark has a bag of climbing gear and ropes, and three cute little helmets:
I have set up a shutterfly account to upload our photos as we go. I have assigned my 14yo/9th grader a journal to keep during the trip in order to squeeze a little school credit out of it. I have also given my 8yo a journal because she asked for one. I have several e-books saved in my Kindle library.
I have a refurbished iPhone with a UK phone number, even though I said I wanted to hold out against having a smartphone for as long as possible.
I have a set of resistance bands, so maybe I won't completely lose all the progress I made in the last six weeks that I've been weightlifting.
I have packed two big zip-lock bags of toiletries, first aid, and medicines. We have anti-diarrheals, decongestants, NSAIDs, migraine tablets, PEG laxatives, lip balm, bandages, gauze, tape, tweezers, clippers, antifungal cream, a baby thermometer, antihistamines, eyeglass wipes, diaper cream, Dum Dum pops, lidocaine gel, flossers, ponytail holders, throat lozenges, sunblock, immunization records.
I've dealt with almost everything that needs to be dealt with before we get back or very soon after. The homeschool paperwork has been sent in. I have a new drivers license. There are several dinners in the freezer. All the schoolwork is ready to go as if we were starting on Monday.
I feel as if my brain has been separated into a dozen tiny pieces and the shards are resting in various places in the house — in the school cabinet with the few papers and books that come along; in the closets with the clothes I haven't packed yet; in the car's glove box where I keep my spare sunglasses; in the medicine cabinet with a few items I still need to have out; in the filing cabinet with the passports; in the still-not-cleaned-out refrigerator; in the room upstairs, one little piece tucked away into each open suitcase. Resting each in their spot and pulsing quietly, sending out a little homing signal so that I can gather them all up when it's time to go.
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