Two More Sleeps

"Of all the hardships a person had to face, none was more punishing than the simple act of waiting.” ~ Khaled Hosseini

The DH told me this morning that we only have, in toddler parlance, "two more sleeps" before we launch ourselves on the next adventure. We've been trying to take our family to Alaska for so long, it's almost a surprise to have the trip hurtling toward us now. Our big suitcases are packed and weighed so as not to exceed the 50 lbs. limit for our American Airlines flights on Friday. 

This time I really did try to scale back and not overpack so the DH and I could use just one big black bag. But I confess that #2 Daughter's blue suitcase did catch a bit of our "overflow," notably the DH's shoes, her grandfather's binoculars and his pocket knife (he feels naked without one!). In addition to these bags, I've got a roller carry-on, a personal item "weekender-style" over the shoulder bag, both of which I'll keep with me. The DH will be wearing a backpack. 

We'll also have a few items that don't count against what we can carry on the plane--Percival (my purse-sized Portable Oxygen Concentrator) and two C-pap machines. Because they're deemed medically necessary, we can't be parted from them. It's a blessing...and a curse. 

Today we're scrambling to get the last minute things done:

• Pack 3 weeks worth of meds. We're only going to be gone for a week, but just in case someone in our party tests positive for Covid and we all have to be quarantined, it's a good idea to have some extra.
• Take our 72 hour pre-cruise Covid test. (For a refresher on why we need this please see this previous post.) We had appointments for our tests at our local CVS with my parents and #2 Daughter this morning. #1 Daughter and Daughter-in-Law will take theirs during lunch hour. Nephew will take his tomorrow at a rapid result location in the town where he lives. We should have our results by email before we head for Lambert Airport in St. Louis on Friday. Then on Saturday, we'll have one last covid test at the pier before we board the Norwegian Encore. (Kudos to Norwegian for paying for and providing these tests for their guests. To my knowledge, they are the only non-luxury cruise line that does this.) 
• Print out settlement sheet and closing docs for #1 Daughter's house sale. Wouldn't you know the deal would close when they're out of town? But her realtor has emailed all the docs to her and she forwarded them to her dad so he can print them out for her. After her Covid test, she'll use the rest of her lunch hour to sign everything before a notary at her local bank and then FedEx them all back to Colombia for the actual closing that will take place while she's enroute to Seattle!  
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  Call our vet. We need to let him know that Miss Ada (aka The Puppy Whisperer) will be staying with Charlie and Albert while we're gone. If there's an emergency, we want her authorized care for them. (BTW, Charlies has been pretty distressed of late. He's been around enough to realize that suitcases never bode well for a dog. However, both he and Albert already adore Miss Ada, so he'll be fine while we're gone.)  
• Leave a list of important numbers and requests for Miss Ada. Since she's our house-sitter as well, she needs to know when the trash and recycling goes out to the street, when the puppy-boys are due for their next heartworm pill, and how she can reach us in an emergency.
• Final packs of the carry-on pieces. Granted, this won't be completely finished until Friday morning, but I need to rehearse a bit on where I've stashed the important things I'll have to access during our travel day--passports, CDC cards, hand sanitizer, and travel snacks. (Anyone but me remember the old George Carlin schtick about how the worst thing about traveling was knowing where your "stuff" is?)

So, there's still more to do, but it's a joyous busy-ness. We're finally traveling again! And we're privileged to share our joy with some of the people we love most. 

Life is so very good.