Getting Ready

I am sitting in the cafeteria at the hospital, waiting for a patient, and making a list of all the things I have to do before we leave. So far I have about a dozen things to do. I don't know why, but there always seems to be so much more to do right before you leave to go on vacation. It's not like we're going to be gone for months, just a couple of weeks, but if I leave these things till later it will be too late.

I'm pretty organized for our trip; the cars are rented, all the hotels are booked, and I have arranged with the manager of the villa to meet us there at 4 pm on Saturday. We have tickets for Versailles and the Eiffel tower but everything else we will decide as we go along. I have sheets of paper with little tidbits of information i've found on the internet - what days the markets are in what cities, locations of some geocaches, hours of wineries, and of course, the addresses of some quilt/fabric stores!

I think the worst part of preparing for a trip is deciding what to pack. I am determined to get this done in plenty of time for this trip (I say that every time, and am always up at 1 am the night before we leave, still packing!) Part of the problem is that we will be in two different climates - the south of France will be warm and humid, and Paris will be a lot cooler, and probably wet some days. What I need is a pair of those zip off pants - shorts in Provence and pants in Paris! We are also going to be going out for a fancy dinner at least twice - once in Stephen's restaurant and once in the Loire Valley. So I have to ask myself:
- do I risk bringing the same thing for both dinners? What if I spill?
- will Stephen be embarrassed if I use my napkin as a bib in his restaurant?
- do I have to bring an extra pair of shoes to match my outfit? Or won't it matter because my feet will be under the table? Will I embarrass Stephen if I run across the restaurant to sit at the table so no one notices my feet?

So many things to think about!

Well, some of the things on my To Do list require phone calls so I can get started now. I should be home by 1 pm so I can throw my last load of laundry in, then start zipping around doing my errands. Geesh, by Friday I am going to need a vacation!