The countdown for vacation...

We leave in 5 hours. Am I ready? Will I ever be ready? Well.... I just have to take a deep breath and hope for the best. It did not help yesterday when I discovered that the portable DVD player is now broken. I am hoping that it is not an omen. Or that our flights will be out of THE OMEN.

I got up this morning at 4:15am, hoping to have a bit of calming, quiet time to think through all that must be done. I started the preparations 3 days ago, but there is still stuff to be done. On Sunday I performed the Preparation of Trevor's food. Trevor is our cat. He has allergies and I must cook him ground turkey meat. Not kidding. He can no longer eat the Veterinary special recipe cat allergy food. So...on Sunday I cooked 12lbs of ground turkey meat. Yes, 12lbs.

The children and I will be gone for almost a month. E, bless him, is being very brave. He will join us in 17 days. A lifetime to be away from his children. A long time to be away from his wife. Maybe a good thing to be away from his wife. In any case, I will miss him terribly and look forward to him joining us in 17 days. Yes, I am counting. I can count early in the morning. Something not well managed in just a few hours...

Boy & Girl are terribly excited about riding an airplane today. We are flying to Florida to visit their grandparents and to spend time with many, many cousins on the beach, chasing sea gulls, floating in the ocean and picking up shells. Wedged in there will be wonderful meals, quality time spent with family and hopefully a few naps and infrequent tantrums.

They will each have their own backpack containing a few toys of their choice (for Boy, at least several Thomas the Tank Engine Trains and for Girl a dozen books), and a snack. The first flight is 4 hours. Pray for us. Of course that is the actual time in the air. There is always the time the airlines make you wait in the plane, always blaming traffic on the runway or the air traffic controllers. Boy and Girl are hoping to "meet the pilot." I don't know if you can do that anymore. It would definitely be a highlight.

My backpack will contain all the essentials: potty seat covers, anti-bacterial wipes, emergency snacks (that's when we break out the unhealthy stuff), special books - one of which should be labeled "A Smart Mommy's Guide to flying solo with 2 hooligans, trying to remain sane, and how not to check yourself into Rehab for Mothers by the end of the flight."

It is now time to go finish packing and doing the endless tasks. Think well of us. Have a great 4th and I'll be blogging from the beach. WhAAAHOOO! Just got to get there....Just got to get there....Just got to get there...

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