Monday, June 20, 2011

Organizing and Packing

A friend of mine once said that getting ready for a long trip is like preparing to die. I know what she means.

We just spent a weekend at a lake house, which involved much shopping and planning and packing (and much fun, too!), and now we have about a three-day turn around before a month-long trip. We're getting things in order, taking care of all the many things that have been neglected during the school year (which is everything). Taking care of things that we have ignored for months (or even years) because we just wouldn't feel right if we left home for a few weeks with them undone.

It drives me a bit nuts. One time, before a trip, I even started to hyperventilate a bit. So. Much. Planning. I think that, if I were a more organized person in general, it would all be much easier. But I'm not very organized, so every time, two days before we leave, I'm running around the house looking for proof of insurance cards and the dog's vaccination records.

All while trying to get all of the laundry finished, running a bazillion errands, and making sure there are plenty of Magic Tree House audiobooks on my iPod.

And, of course, I don't have my article finished (but it's close-ish!).
Crap. Just remembered I forgot to call today to order contacts.
Oh, and I need to take care of some Netflix DVDs.
Oh, right, we're out of cat litter.
And then there are those library books . . .
Oh, and I have to drop of that deposit . . .
The bills, the newspapers . . . I think the boy needs a new fishing pole . . .

And so it goes . . .

6 comments:

Fie upon this quiet life! said...

Ha. I think that going on a long trip is just like getting ready to die. You know what might be even more apt? Getting ready to move! I think my new moving motto is going to be this: "You can't take it with you." Maybe that will make it easier. :)

Anonymous said...

GEW, love the description of just needing to explore. And thank you for saying I have Inky value with or without writing. So kind. And re: your dissertation, I'm glad you're writing it. One of my profs said about the dissertation, "The only thing that matters is crossing the finish line." I repeated that a LOT during the diss phase. Maybe I need to apply it again here! :) We can both do it. We can, we can, we can.

Good luck with packing. It's always brutal. You will #win! And yay for the Vonnegut ref at the end. ;)

Good Enough Woman said...

And now something broke in the shower while hubby was fixing a leak, and we had to shut of the water. With loads of laundry before we drive, loads of laundry before we drive. A plumber has been called.

Anonymous said...

And nice Frostian phrasing, too.

But sorry about the leak, geesh.

This Ro(a)mantic Life said...

Eeeeeeeek water shutoffs do *not* sound good ... I hope help arrived quickly!

I know the insanity of a quick turnaround between trips; we're kind of in the midst of one ourselves. Here's to forgetting/leaving behind only those things that we'll figure out we can survive without!

Good Enough Woman said...

The plumber came but said it would cost at least $500 for him to break into the wall and do what hubby could do without breaking into the wall*. So hubby gave him a few bucks for his trouble and sent the honest man on his way. I came home from errands to find hubby in the shower with a blowtorch, "sweating the pipes" to cap them off. So we have water! But, upon our return from the trip, we will have to redo the bathroom. But we have water!

*I should clarify. Hubby still had to cut into the shower stall and the wall behind it to get to the pipes, but the plumber was going to come at the pipes from the drywall outside of the shower. At least with hubby's way, we can't see the hole when we close the shower door.