Packing.... Unpacking.... Repacking.....

Sweet Girl was astounded when I told her on the phone yesterday that I was packing for a trip that isn't until next week. She ought to know by now, that's how I roll. In a reversal of my usual procedure, however, I haven't packed for Hubby yet. (Yes, I still do that, please don't crucify me. You can't ever go back, you can't ever go back, you can't ever go back.)

I would be a little better at packing for trips if I would give in to my OCD tendencies. If I would write out a plan for the week, schedule when I'm going to wear what, and pack accordingly, I could save myself a lot of trouble. Not to mention avoid having one of us get a hernia from trying to lift my suitcase. (It's the big one.) I was completely packed by dinner time last night. But the thought kept nagging me that I had overpacked (as usual), and I didn't need all that stuff. I tend to be a "what if" traveler.

What if I want to walk laps around the ship's walking track?
What if I spill something on an outfit?
What if I don't FEEL like wearing the green dress Sweet Girl talked me into buying?
What if I eat so much in the first two days that nothing fits?

After dinner, I had another "what if" moment:

WHAT IF I didn't take all those clothes?
WHAT IF I had to wear something twice?
WHAT IF I wanted to wear something and didn't have it with me?

No. Big. Deal.

We are going on a cruise, and I knew I would need two "formal" outfits (unless we decide to avoid the hoopla of the formal nights, which we have been known to do). I went shopping with the express purpose of buying some casual dresses (even though I'm not usually a dress kind of girl), short cotton things that I could wear to dinner, then wear into town the next day or wear around the ship on the days at sea when the most strenuous thing we do is typically go to trivia and hope to kick some arses.

When we go to dinner on the ship, we typically go back to our room, get back into casual clothes, and sit on the balcony and watch the water go by. OCCASIONALLY we go to a show (we saw a wonderful magician/hypnotist on one of our cruises, and RARELY I can talk Hubby into going to a song-and-dance show. Sometimes we wear our dinner clothes for a grand total of two hours, and that's only because they drag out the dinner process until Hubby develops a twitch somewhere.

Sorry, I didn't mean to get so long-winded. I didn't want to scandalize anyone who might find the idea of wearing something two days in a row repulsive. Please don't look in my living room window the rest of this week.

Here is my suitcase as it was last night. It's a little misleading, because it WAS possible to zip it closed at that time, even though it doesn't look like it. I still had my swimsuits to put in, though, so I left it open.

This is a picture of all the clothes I took out of the suitcase. You probably can't tell (and I didn't take individual photos), but I have THREE formal outfits, FOUR short dresses, ONE skirt/blouse outfit, TWO skort/blouse combinations, and FIVE shorts/blouse outfits. Good. Grief.

This is after I have removed the extraneous outfits. And I still have enough clothes to wear, with room for spillages and the occasional "I'm-not-feeling-that-outfit" spells. Yo will notice I did NOT remove any of the shoes. A girl has to have her standards. You may also note that I did not include my unmentionables in any of these photos. You're welcome.

This is the suitcase after everything is neatly packed back in it.

And it zipped with ease.

 Maybe this is the process I need to go through EVERY time I pack for a trip.

Except when we travel in the RV. Having a closet along instead of a suitcase is a definite advantage.

My "To Done" List......

It's been a busy day, but not in a frenzied way. That scares me. Since I waited until today to do a lot of the preparation for BRAG, I expected to be kind of frantic today. I've been on the move pretty much since I got up this morning, but I've also had time to relax. Weird. That makes me scared that I've left something really important undone.

I accomplished the following today:

• Made breakfast for Hubby and me (okay, it was only toast, but it had to be TOASTED)
• Washed a load of clothes
• Packed cycling clothes
• Packed off-bike clothes
• Ordered flowers for yet another funeral
• Shopped for groceries for BRAG
• Went to the ATM
• Loaded groceries into RV
• Cleaned shower in RV
• Cleaned refrigerator in RV
• Vacuumed RV
• Took some unnecessary items OUT of RV (electric grill, satellite [since we crashed the TV anyway]), zero gravity chairs [it will be too dang hot to sit outside anyway])
• Charged a plethora of electronic devices (iPhone, iPad, Nintendo DS, camera, GPS - did I mention this is a BICYCLE ride? and we go to bed around 8:00 PM and get up at 5:00 AM?)
• Downloaded BRAG routes into GPS
• Reinstalled program for my internet access thingie (sometimes called a connect card, but it isn't a card at all - more like a stick) since I lost everything on my laptop. Yes, I'm STILL whining about that. But NOT my pictures, for which I am immensely grateful.
• Made it through World 7 in Mario Brothers on the Wii
• Took a very short (and hot) 9.5 mile bike ride
• Swam
• Showered (and shaved my legs, since it is BRAG and all)
• Had dinner out with Hubby

I apologize in advance to those of you with zero (or less) interest in cycling, because the next eight blog posts will be devoted to BRAG.  I will try to post some decent photos to make up for it.

Sometimes I Wish I Were a Man.....

Not really, but sometimes I wish I at least had a wife. Or a personal assistant. Or a Sherpa.

Packing for Hubby is so easy.

[And yes, I pack his clothes anytime he goes out of town, whether I'm going with him or not. And I'm not embarrassed to admit it. Much.]

We're going to be gone three days, so I throw in three pairs of shorts and three golf shirts that match. He wouldn't even care if they didn't match, but I do. I usually pack at least one UGA shirt when we're going out of state. A couple of t-shirts for walking on the beach in the morning, socks, underwear, bathing suits, he's done.

Packing for myself is much more complicated. And I am not ..... I repeat NOT ..... fashion-conscious. I pack shorts and t-shirts for walking on the beach or hanging out during the day, but it's not the sort of thing I would wear to dinner. Or the casino. So I have to pack for daytime and nighttime. With an extra outfit thrown in for safe measure. Just in case someone sneaks an extra day in on me somewhere. Flip-flops for the beach and pool, sneakers for walking, and don't even get me started on the necessity for a separate pair of shoes for each outfit. This time I didn't go that route; I'm taking one pair of white sandals, and they have to go with everything. Two swimsuits ..... okay, three because I couldn't decide ..... and a cover-up. Every bra I own because I can never remember which ones are really comfortable, and I didn't feel like trying them on. Two pairs of underwear for every day, because you can't go walk on the beach and then change into a swimsuit and then put the SAME UNDERWEAR back on to go to dinner. Sorry if that's TMI. A couple of bandanas, socks for the sneakers, sports bras for walking. My toiletries bag and make-up case.

We will take no fewer than 6 bags with us in the morning, by the time we load up the suitcases (2), the laptop, my CPAP machine, a bag of snacks because Hubby evidently thinks we're going to run the risk of starving to death way off in the wilds of ..... Florida. A bag with our swim things in it because we might not be able to check in right away. A cooler. Or two.

I TOLD him we should rent a motorhome.