Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Lots to Do!

I just emailed Rachel, as she asked how I was holding up... okay I guess apart from the hair falling out that I attribute to stress. Seriously.

It's been a busy week already and I feel like I am behind the 8 ball. SO much to do! My dad comes for a quick visit today on his way out west to hunt. Last night, we found out that our air bed has a leak in it. Naturally. Our house is filled with tons of stuff waiting for a place to go... (like in our suitcases). It's all piled in various places, mainly the two worst....the dining room table and the kitchen counter!

I'm just behind in general....and need to get my act together! Just cleaning up the clutter and catching up on regular stuff like laundry and dishes will help me feel more organized. We have a super busy week with football and our fall festival at church....plus a picnic on Saturday for our Sunday school class!

I have a question for those of you who have traveled before.... how did you pack your stuff. I know that sounds silly, and I do know to divide our clothes so if a suitcase is lost we each have some clothes to wear. But what about food items? Where did you pack those? (Carry on? Checked luggage?) And Kim where/how did you pack those little creamers? I guess I'm looking for tips that worked for anyone else.....

We leave for my sisters in 8 days! With our busy schedule I'm feeling the crunch time....that's for sure!

8 comments:

Carolynn and Steve said...

Hi Jackie,

Packing the food items is a confusing problem. This is just me talking, but I'd try to split things up, some in each, depending upon how much space you have. I usually pack a few things in the carry on, but most of it in the checked luggage. On our last trip to Russia, one of the girls had peanut butter in her carry on and the security actually took it away (I guess because it was enough like a liquid or could have been used as an explosive)! That made for some interesting comments about PB and J for the rest of the trip. On the other hand, I had 2 great big jars of PB in my checked luggage (for the camp) and nothing happened to it.
I'm SO excited for you---it will all get worked out--just take a deep breath! or two! or several! God is holding you through all this and wants you to enjoy it!

Becky and Keith said...

I agree with Carolynn... checked luggage for most everything (in baggies at the bottom of the suitcase) and then another ziplock with snacks for the plane. They do give you a decent amount of food on the plane, it's just nice to have a bag of munchies in case you want them. You are going to be A-OK! Just remember, it's okay to say "no" to things going on around you in order to reduce some stress. :-) I wasn't so good at that and it definitely added to the chaos.

Mama Fish said...

Thank you ladies...both for the practical advice. :-) I'm working on catching up on some household things and organizing a birthday party for when we return.... if I get it done now, I will be able to enjoy it when I get back. I'm going to try to open up some suitcases tonight to start placing things in them....

Flamingo said...

Dont' stress! easy said, not easy done. I was stressing just packing for our 4 day vegas trip...i can't imagine an international.

this has been so helpful for me already...i didn't think about taking movies to watch. my hubby isn't a reader so would go insane without something to watch!

Kim Abraham - Mom to the Fabulous Five! said...

Hi Jackie,

I just put the creamers in a baggie and packed in between a couple of soft items. They were fine. We took a few snacks in a backpack that I carried on the plane, but we didn't really need them. We ate at the airport before leaving and then were served food and snacks on the plane every hour.

All the rest of our food went into the "checked" luggage (although we ended up not actually checking anything.)

I know you are feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done, but pace yourself and do the most important things first -- like packing suitcases. Make SURE you have it all finished the day BEFORE you leave. Don't stay up late (or all night like yours truly) before your flight. Trust me... You NEED a good night's sleep before your nine hour flight.

It it looks like something on your list might not get completely done, call in reinforcements -- like your wonderful Sunday School class. I'm sure they'd love to help to you out!

I loved the photo slide of your little football players!

Mama Fish said...

Kim- I'll make sure it is don ahead of time. It will be kind of hard to procrastinate, as we head to my sister's for the night and the next day to the airport. So, it needs to be packed and done by this coming Thursday! (wow that sounds closer than it seems)

Kim Abraham - Mom to the Fabulous Five! said...

Good thinking!

Michael, Carrie, and S said...

We made sure to have at least one outfit and our essential items in one of our carry on bags. We also kept all of our items (toys, clothes, blanket, etc.) for S and all of our papers in carry on bags as well.

We used the space bags, and they worked very well. It made packing much easier, and things fit better.

Best wishes with the packing!