pre-travel crazies, a list

I am planning to embark on a road trip with my kids, leaving this afternoon if I get everything done, which includes laundry, laundry, laundry, meticulous packing, and some clean-up. You'd think having the whole morning at home to do this would give me plenty of time, but you'd be wrong. I get the crazies when I'm getting read to leave for a trip. Stuart isn't coming with us this time (though he will join us later), but when he does it's twice as bad because on top of all that other stuff I have to make sure there's nothing left to fester in the fridge and wash every last dish...so this time I'm relieved of that. Still, I go berserk with details and tend to obsess over things that are completely irrelevant to the impending trip like organizing a shelf in the closet of the guest room or cleaning off the computer desk or scrubbing this one corner of the kitchen floor that is suddenly bugging the beans out of me.

So now here, because I have to wait for our eternally slow dryer anyway, I present to you a list of my pre-travel crazies for the day:

1. The basement. Specifically, the contractor will in all likelihood get started while we're gone. Step1 is excavating for egress windows and cutting them out of concrete block, which means the area around those windows needs to be clear. We had it almost all taken care of except for one card table full of my random crafting stuff and a smattering of high school memorabilia that my parents brought with them on their last trip up here. Instead of just moving it all over, I HAD to go through and organize all of it. This morning.

2. Bread. We're just about out, and I need to make more. Is Stuart capable of making bread? Oh yes, he makes excellent ciabatta. But I might want some to make PBJ for the road. So I have to make more.

3. Packing. I am so incredibly meticulous about packing. I make a list several days ahead of time so I don't forget anything important (and I usually do anyway, but as long as I remember my music for the concert and my glasses, I'll be okay this time). It just takes forever.

4. Also, Daniel gets really excited about packing, so he likes to pack his own suitcase. There are many problems with this. First, he picked the one suitcase that Stuart needs to use for his work travel while we're gone, the only one small enough to fit in the carry-on thingie on the plane. So I need to convince Daniel to use a different suitcase (not an easy thing, I assure you.) Then there's the problem of what he decides to pack. About an hour ago he emptied his whole drawer of summer t-shirts and PJs int the suitcase, which more or less filled it up, so there is no room left for long pants or underwear or any of the things we actually need to take along. He also develops a long list of toys and gadgets he'd like to bring along, even though they are unnecessary and we don't have room. What happens in the end is that I put away all the stuff he packed and re-pack what he actually needs to have along. Bless his heart, he just gets so excited about the whole process.

5. Anya - spills her snack alll over her clothes and has to change them 3 times and insists on wearing underwear even though she's totally not ready, and pees on the floor...

Wish me luck.