Today is it. If it's not done, it's not likely to happen. Far too many clothes are spread out over the house. By tonight, they'll have to be gleaned and culled. I'm now dealing with all the last minute things that you can't do ahead of time, and hoping there aren't TOO many I've forgotten about. Paper and mail canceled. (Can you imagine what it's going to be like to get a month's worth of holiday catalogs when we get back?) Neighbor's kids checking front porch and driveway for notices and those pesky throwaway papers, etc. Inevitable arguments about what's appropriate attire with my husband. We WILL be in public a great deal of the time, after all.
Got my second round manuscript from Five Star. Have to do a side-by-side to see what she changed, since she sent a clean copy. Don't think it will happen today, but I'll try as long as I have to be home until the DHL guy shows up. Too bad they didn't come yesterday; I actually had some time. But that's the way it is, it seems. When you have time for stuff, the stuff isn't there, and when you don't have time, you get the stuff. Posts will be sporadic from here on, but check back.
With a month-long out of the country trip on the horizon, my "things to do" grows exponentially, and along with it, my stress level. It's evident in the little things -- like, our kitchen faucet has a pull out feature. To fill my coffeemaker, I pull out the nozzle, position it over the water reservoir in the coffeemaker and fill it. Easy, saves the hassle of filling a container and transferring water. But the other day, I went from step one to step three, turning the water on BEFORE the nozzle was over the coffee maker. I spent a day "training" my "boss" how to handle the membership for the organization I work for because I'll be gone so long. It's nice to know he now has a clue what I actually do, but I lost a big chunk of time taking him to and from the airport and showing him how everything works. I had a conference call to South Africa with the meeting people dealing with logistics and setup (and somehow volunteered to put their badge label printer which they're ordering and having shipped to me into a suitcase in return for them meeting us at the airport and storing that suitcase with conference materials and wardrobe.) Figure out what clothes I need for the tour, what I need for the conference (since I'm working, there's a minimum standard). Shoes? How much underwear for a month? When/where will there be time to do laundry? Do South African hotels include hair dryers like US hotels? Hair appointment on the 17th. Should I have it cut really, really short in case they don't? I did cancel the paper. I can't refil my meds on line yet--they won't let you reorder before a certain date. Email sent requesting an exception. Have to pick up a referral for lab work, then get said lab work before my doctor's appointment. Have to finish my POV workshop handout. Have to do the POV presentation. Book signing Nov. 3rd. Website promotion days. Make more chapter booklets for the signing. Pay bills. Arrange to have bills paid while away. What bills? Make list. Be glad my husband doesn't expect a three course meal for dinner every night. I look at my calendar, my mental to do list, my jotted notes (yeah, I should write it down all in one place, and I'm sure I'll get around to that, too) and hope everything comes together before I get on the plane to South Africa.I've turned in my final draft of Hurricane Breeze. I haven't received edits for When Danger Calls (which I should get next week -- more things to panic about). I'm at about 84,000 words in my WIP, which I wanted to turn in before I left. Only it's at that 'time to explain who everyone is and how everything happened' stage, and I haven't actually decided on all the details. I had a good brainstorming session with my daughter yesterday (Skype comes in handy when you're continents apart) but there were still niggling plot issues surfacing at 5 AM. Maybe I need to take sleep off my to do list.
It's our last day of vacation. It's been wonderful. Soon, we'll be on our way back to heat and humidity. And work. And going through two weeks of accumulated mail. But not too much laundry, as I managed to do most of it while we were with my son.
A brief recap of our last couple of days. After our day at Garden of the Gods, we did a mass-celebratory dinner to cover all the significant events for our kids – recent birthdays, anniversaries, new pregnancy. The choice of restaurant was left up to the kids, and we ended up at The Craftwood Inn, a very elegant spot in Manitou Springs. The menu was exotic and we did the whole shebang, from appetizers to dessert. Save your pennies (for a long time), and give it a try if you're ever in this part of the country. (I had the wild game birds.) Even my formerly non-adventurous eater daughter ordered something new.
Thursday, we met our daughter in downtown Colorado Springs for lunch. I recommend the Ritz Veggie Stonehearth Pizza. (Yes, we've been eating way too much on this trip!). Afterward, my husband and I went to the Cheyenne Mountain zoo where he tried out the lens he'd borrowed from our son.
The evening was spent at the Sky Sox game, where my daughter-in-law's company was holding its annual picnic. Food paled in comparison to the previous nights.
The morning's challenge: packing. As always, we take home more than we arrive with. We did ship the pottery home, but my other daughter who had been visiting prior to our arrival left a wonderful bottle of single-malt Irish whiskey, and my other two kids each gave me a bag of Mother's Iced Animal Cookies, something I got hooked on in college and can't get in Florida. My husband got about four pounds of coffee from the local Firedance Coffee Company. He's hooked on their Snickerdoodle.
Next post will be from Florida.
