Today is Trial Pack Day

Only one more week until we leave - YAY!
It still seems so surreal after all the planning, that the day is almost here. I don't actually begin to think it's truly a go until we board the plane. Then it is hand sweat time. Yeah, I still hate to fly.

BTW ~ My name is Jodi and I'm an anal-list-o-holic!!

I've got lists coming out my ears. I have one master vacation list on my computer, but it never fails, that each trip we take, I add to it. My list of things to take and things to do before we leave is a full 3 pages @ 12 pt type.

Lists of clothes, toiletries, meds, electronics, travel documents, flights, emergency info, medical info, doctor info, scans of passports & driver licenses, maps, books, hotel info, yada yada yada and boo-koo MB files on the computer needed for a successful trip. I'm always so afraid I'll forget something important, especially health related.

When you leave for almost a month, there is a lot to think about that needs done while gone, like paying bills. Although this chore has been mostly taken care of by automatic bill pay. This has been a god send for travelers. The painful part? Juggling money to make sure there is enough in the accounts to pay all those bills when they come due-UGH! The rest I'll pay on the road, online. What did we do before computers anywho??

Thank goodness, Josh house and Bucky sits for us when we travel. I don't know what I would do if he couldn't do this for us. Bucky is diabetic and requires 2 shots a day, morning and evening, and Josh is great about giving him his shots. Plus Bucky loves having Josh home, Josh has the magic 'cat hands' that require lap, pet, and purr time. Me thinks Josh enjoys it just as much, since he suffers from cat withdrawls not having a cat at home anymore.

I know if I had to board Bucky, he wouldn't eat or survive. As it is, when we leave for that long, he must think we died. A month is a loooooong period in a no-concept-of-time cat's mind. I just know he is very chilly towards us and snubs us every time we return. He'll give us a sideways glance, as if to say, "Oh, it's just you, you're home again." HA HA!

The second day, a lightbulb goes off and he realizes we ARE home and didn't abandon him after all. He then becomes my shadow for a couple more days until he sees we are home and back in routine.

Today is the day.
My lists start to become physical reality.
Everything that needs washed, is washed.
The crap comes out of the wood work and is piled on the guest bed for inspection.
Check, check and recheck.
The lists are dotted with highlighter swipes until the whole page appears to glow in the dark.

The dryer is buzzing, the lists and highlighter are screaming.
TIme to trial pack - ZOOM!