The first few years we spent winters at sea, we had to not only plan for the cruising part, but we had to think about the home part too. People who have a second home in Arizona or Florida have this down; we were complete newbies. Every year we get better at it, and by now, everything we have to do is on lists we've been developing for years and continue to amend. There's actually huge peace of mind in being so anal; each week since we arrived home in March I'd think of something that needed to be packed or done before we leave again. I'd immediately add it to the appropriate list (we use the Awesome Note app on our iPhones) and was then able to put it out of my mind until closer to the cruise. I think it makes for a less stressful month before we leave home, which is a good thing, because it's still been pretty crazy around here.
But we're on the home stretch now, and enjoy looking back a bit at what we've accomplished. Here's the VERY abbreviated version:
1.) Medical and dental appointments complete/ prescriptions refilled? Check, check and check. The final one was Friday morning. We are cleared to travel and influenza-repellant.
2.) House/yard winterized? Check.
3.) Plants fostered out? Check. (Thank you Martha...the jungle keeps growing every year!)
4.) Christmas cards in envelopes and stamped? Check. (October 11th this year!)
5.) Christmas shopping done and presents wrapped? Almost (I still need to wrap a couple).
6.) House cleaned? Next question.
7.) Gutters cleaned/leaves gathered? Check, check. Well, at least as of last week's Garbage Day Eve (a big day at our house any week, but especially just before we leave). We were out until after dark picking up every errant leaf and had a pile of trash bags out front the next morning...covered by newly fallen ones. I've decided to ignore any leaves that drop from now on, but G has taken this on as a final mission and will be blowing leaves out of the car window as we leave for the airport Monday.
8.) Laptop backed up/ external hard drive in safe deposit box /financial passwords changed? Check, check and check (a nice rainy day project, not as fun as the bead stringing but still relaxing).
9.) Clothes dry cleaned and ready to pack? Check, but not without some last tasks that, despite all my planning, caught me off guard. When cleaning eight months worth of receipts out of my purse, I discovered two Cub Scout Bear patches I'd put there in March for safe keeping. Thursday found me setting up the sewing machine and "doing my duty" so to speak, sewing them on uniforms, and then, as long as the machine was ready to go, we found several other cruise items that could stand a repair (two buttons, a ripped pocket and a ripped seam).
10.) Refrigerator/pantry emptied? Okay, sidebar here...I'm still perplexed how the four final items left in our freezer again include three packs of - you guessed it - Hebrew National 97% fat free hot dogs. Who buys these things and then doesn't eat them (I'm not pointing fingers, but only two people live in this house, and it's not me)? But there's still a pound of broccoli in there, too, and OJ in the fridge. We're not quite as vitamin deprived as we were leading up to last year's cruise, but are burned out a bit on the spaghetti sauce I made and froze in August using tomatoes from the garden. (Let's just say we're not exactly looking forward to Italian night on the ship.) So, the kitchen's not bare yet, but it will be by the time we leave.
The twins were on fall break last week, and were a huge help in making progress on #10 while simultaneously keeping me from going all OCD on #6. Together we played lots of games of Uno Attack, watched the NFL network on TV, and had a final dinner date at Sweet Tomatoes. They may be another year older, tough football players themselves, but some things never change (and thank God for that)!
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| McGee practicing his best intimidating football face. |
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McGuy educating me on the effectiveness of Rex Ryan's Saints defense. When did he get so smart?
And those glasses...harious!
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I even got parting gifts from them (they've known my favorite color since they knew what colors are!) and these now rank right up there as some of my favorite jewelry pieces ever (and if you have kids in your life, you're probably familiar with the Rainbow Loom craze).
So, we've just about made it through the countdown checklists. At this point, we stop worrying about being ready to leave and start worrying about being able to. After all our hours spent on ladders, we're now afraid we'll trip over a crack in a sidewalk. Don't laugh...this isn't a done deal until our fannies hit a plane seat.
Keep your fingers crossed...
