Last Minute

Whew! I think it will be nice to finally get on the plane so I can sleep! We still have a few days to go for that leg of our journey but we are leaving eeeaarly tomorrow for the first leg. We'll travel north towards DC stopping to visit a couple of good friends along the way and stopping to visit a few more when we get there. We'll fly out Tuesday around noon and (I think) that's when I finally be able to relax a little bit! This post will most likely be my last one for several days. What with traveling and visiting I doubt I'll post again until we are in Africa.

On a slightly different subject, I bought Rachel's wedding present last night. Shhhh! I can't tell what it is for fear she might read it! ;-) I think she will like it though. To give credit where credit is due, it was Jessica's initial idea. She and Ed got one for Josh and Rachel's (the other Rachel) wedding, Josh and Rachel gave one to us for our wedding. It was a hit both times. Simple. Whimsical. Mostly Fun. In a sense, practical (but only in a sense ;-)). I'd better stop before I either bug y'all to death or give it away!

Anyway, I'm off to pack the last minute things. Talk to you later!

Say Cheese!

Peter bought us a digital camera yesterday! Hopefully, that will translate into some pictures here soon.

Time Flies

It seems like events are moving faster and faster. We will be leaving for DC this Saturday and flying out a week from tomorrow. There is still so much to get done! I also want to call a few friends before we leave - I have a list actually. So far, I feel like I've done good to call my parents, brothers and grandmothers! I'm having fun planning what I'm going to take in my carryon - books. Ok, I'll take some other things but as long as I have a steady supply of books I should be fine. Can anyone recommend a book I just abosolutely HAVE to read?

South Africa

To Pack or Not to Pack

Peter confirmed our tickets last night. We should be getting them in the mail today or tomorrow. I have a list of things I have to get before we go. It just hit me yesterday that I have just over a week before we start the first leg of our trip! Yikes! Do I even have time to be sitting here typing this?!? I am trying to decide exactly how much shampoo do we use over the course of three months? Deodorant? Soap? Toothpaste? I would definitely rather take too much as opposed to too little. I'm sure everyone else would rather we did too. I'm sure if it came down to it we could find all the neccesaries overseas too but what about my BRAND of shampoo? Is that too American of me? Probably. In fact, I'm already embarrassed that I even wrote on the issue. (I'm thinking maybe three tubes of toothpaste - or four to be on the safe side...) ;-) Anyway...

Peter also found out that we can each check two bags that cannot weigh over 50 pounds each. I'm pretty sure the last time I flew overseas (almot 6 years ago) it was 70 pounds. Maybe I should leave off that extra tube of toothpaste. Ah! I just had an epiphany! I should take extra toothbrushes too. Scary that I almost forgot that! Yep. The 4th tube is definitely going to have to stay. :-D

Tickets!

Peter bought the tickets yesterday! We are set to leave March 27th and will return June 19th. Lots to do!

Still Waiting

Still waiting for my passport to get back - not that I expected it to be back by now anyway. I'm hoping for Monday but that may be way too optimistic. The application said 3 business days (which would be Saturday or Monday) but the website said 2 weeks - which explains why we haven't bought the tickets just yet.

I asked Jessica this morning what she recommended I take for a 3 month stay in Mozambique. "Besides the 'no, duh' stuff" I said. Then I paused, "No, actually you may want to include the 'no, duh' stuff - you never can tell how duh I'm going to be!" We had actually started a list when there were two different calls for each of our husbands (who WERE both off today). It seems there was a train derailment in Hattiesburg and Ed had to go into work (EMT) and one of Peter's co-workers got sick and he had to go in too (tax preparer). Needless to say, the list fell by the wayside.

I am trying work extra to get all the files filed away at work. They had started piling up because I ran out of drawer space and had to wait while they got another cabinet. I've almost got it caught up. I worked on it so much yesterday that I dreamed about files last night! Big, heavy, legal size files. Stacks and stacks of them. It was awful. It was nice to wake up and know that I am actually almost done with them!

Travel Plans

So far, the main thing holding us back from buying tickets is my passport. We had to send it off to get the name changed to my married name. We sent it expedited yesterday but I have no idea how long it will take. We were hoping we could leave by the end of the month. I guess we're pushing it pretty close. But, hey, there's joy in spontaneity too! It is our privilege as a young married couple with no children (yet) to be totally spur-of-the-moment! *excitement*

Yard Sale

Jessica and I collaborated on a yard sale today. We actually did pretty good for so early in the season. The morning started out chilly and slow but warmed up and picked up around 10 am. I am thankful for the little extra pocket money and the lot less stuff in storage! I probably have lots more that I could have sorted out and sold if I had given myself enough time. I am happy with the way it turned out - but that's just the after effects of the money-in-hand. Over all, are yard sales worth it? Umm, lemme get back with you on that. One thing I do know is that it will be while before I'll want to have another one!