I have only ......... days/months till I go again.

[NaCler]

6 and 13 for me (planning on going the next two Saturday's)

[Amy]

6 and 13 for me (planning on going the next two Saturday's)

Nice! Will you be able to stay the night the first Saturday so you don't have so much driving?

[Amy]

Ooops, missed a day in the countdown. Good thing I never tried out for that job at NASA!
7...and now 6

[cy1229]

Ooops, missed a day in the countdown. Good thing I never tried out for that job at NASA!
7...and now 6

I'd be too excited to concentrate on anything else at this point if I had only 6 days until a great trip.

[Amy]

Ooops, missed a day in the countdown. Good thing I never tried out for that job at NASA!
7...and now 6

I'd be too excited to concentrate on anything else at this point if I had only 6 days until a great trip.

So much happening that it seems I can't even sit for a second and enjoy the upcoming trip ~ have to deal with reapplying for health insurance, which is always a huge hassle, found out today I have one regular piano family that will have to cut their lesson commitment in half for the foreseeable future, the occasional grindy noise that happens under the car hood (which did not happen for the mechanic when I had it in!) has crunched a good one in the last few days you know, the usual. But I do keep smiling because I know that vacation is coming closer no matter if we are ready or not ~ and once I get on that plane, I have 9 whole days where I don't have to drive, think about health insurance, wrangle unruly students, etc., etc., etc. Ahhhhhh

[Metalfan]

49!

[Amy]

49!

Sweet!

Down to 5 here

[cy1229]

Ooops, missed a day in the countdown. Good thing I never tried out for that job at NASA!
7...and now 6

I'd be too excited to concentrate on anything else at this point if I had only 6 days until a great trip.

So much happening that it seems I can't even sit for a second and enjoy the upcoming trip ~ have to deal with reapplying for health insurance, which is always a huge hassle, found out today I have one regular piano family that will have to cut their lesson commitment in half for the foreseeable future, the occasional grindy noise that happens under the car hood (which did not happen for the mechanic when I had it in!) has crunched a good one in the last few days you know, the usual. But I do keep smiling because I know that vacation is coming closer no matter if we are ready or not ~ and once I get on that plane, I have 9 whole days where I don't have to drive, think about health insurance, wrangle unruly students, etc., etc., etc. Ahhhhhh

To assist your mechanic, try to find a pattern in when the crunching noise occurs. Starting it cold? Restarting it warm? Certain air/moisture conditions? At certain speeds? Only at idle? Etc. Put your good scientist analytical skills to work.

I think you shouldn't try to do anything vacation-wise until the day before you go. Then open the suitcases, mad-dash throw everything in it, zip it up, go online and stop your mail, Phone the police department to let them know you'll be away, clean out your fridge of perishables and take them to your neighbors (who wants to come home to sour milk? eew) then order a pizza and let the vacation begin.

FWIW, one thing I bought before my 3-week trip to California this summer was a set of packing cubes / bags. I didn't spend a bunch, something like $30 for 5 of them. Made packing really simple. I put our swim suits and my cover-up in one, all my underroos and socks go in another, etc. Then the bags just go into a suitcase. Also bought a set of zippered mesh bags, four different sizes ranging from 3x5 to 8x8, that hold stuff like my portable battery and cable, my mp3 player and headphones, medicines, etc. Another good organizer. Those were $6 for the set on Amazon. If you can swing it, you might think about these two items to make your packing simpler. And don't forget about the pizza.

[Amy]

I think you shouldn't try to do anything vacation-wise until the day before you go. Then open the suitcases, mad-dash throw everything in it, zip it up, go online and stop your mail, Phone the police department to let them know you'll be away, clean out your fridge of perishables and take them to your neighbors (who wants to come home to sour milk? eew) then order a pizza and let the vacation begin.

FWIW, one thing I bought before my 3-week trip to California this summer was a set of packing cubes / bags. I didn't spend a bunch, something like $30 for 5 of them. Made packing really simple. I put our swim suits and my cover-up in one, all my underroos and socks go in another, etc. Then the bags just go into a suitcase. Also bought a set of zippered mesh bags, four different sizes ranging from 3x5 to 8x8, that hold stuff like my portable battery and cable, my mp3 player and headphones, medicines, etc. Another good organizer. Those were $6 for the set on Amazon. If you can swing it, you might think about these two items to make your packing simpler. And don't forget about the pizza.

There sadly seems to be no rhyme or reason to the noise under the hood All day yesterday I fired up the voice memo or video on the old iphone before starting it and it purred to life each and every time. Will try to remember to continue doing that as it seems to behave fine when it knows someone/thing is listening

Oh, the mad packing dash is definitely slated for Sunday. I moved laundry day up a day to Saturday so everything will be ready to pack the next day. We love the packing cubes and little mesh organizers. Already got those, although I might need to track some of them down as they don't always get back to where they belong when we get home. I got the electronics sorted/charged/separated into their own mesh bag a few weeks back, although I am still trying to decide how many, if any, digital recorders I want to take along. I might skip those this time around as I didn't have a great track record with recording last time ~ too many variables trying to figure out optimal levels without taking a bit more time than I wanted to on the last trip. I can always record something on my phone or camera if I really want to. And there are so many good videos online now, it is tempting to just (try to) relax and enjoy the moment!
Thanks for the reminder on the mail ~ I should put that note out in the box today. No point in calling the police, they don't do anything like that around here ~ haven't for years.

[Amy]

4 ~ only 4 ~ too much to do, ack!
Oh, and breaking in a second pair of new shoes. I wore my other shoes for errands this morning and probably covered about a mile or two at the most and my feet were done Luckily I had bought two via mail order. I had been debating about keeping the second pair, but this morning sort of helped me make that decision!

[ImagineerWannabe]

4 ~ only 4 ~ too much to do, ack!

Breathe! You can do it! 9 days at Disney...I'm jealous Lots of time to see and do everything right? Good luck with the packing.

[Amy]

4 ~ only 4 ~ too much to do, ack!

Breathe! You can do it! 9 days at Disney...I'm jealous Lots of time to see and do everything right? Good luck with the packing.

Yeah, I should start worrying about when I get back ~ I'll be teaching until almost 8:30 the night after we get back so I will likely be a tired puppy by then
I'm hoping that 9 days is enough. It always seems like a long time but then the days really start flying by!

[Amy]

3! Although today is almost over really. Poor Figment thought we were leaving on Sunday. I asked her yesterday why she was so worried about all her packing and all the scurrying around she was doing when we still had 4 days. That's when I found out she was thinking we were leaving a day sooner ~ oops.

[Amy]

2! Just 2!!
The mysterious, unbidden smile has started to creep onto my face, along with the slight look of terror in my eyes that comes with realizing I haven't packed anything, made any lists, and have so much stuff to do...but there is still a whole 'nother day to get it all done after today ~ Hakuna Matata!

[Thumper1]

2! Just 2!!
The mysterious, unbidden smile has started to creep onto my face, along with the slight look of terror in my eyes that comes with realizing I haven't packed anything, made any lists, and have so much stuff to do...but there is still a whole 'nother day to get it all done after today ~ Hakuna Matata!

This is soooo exciting!! I wish I was going for nine whole days!! I hope you and f1gment enjoy yourselves!!! Say Hi to Mickey for me!!