I am not a planner by nature.

I'm more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl. It worked for me for most of my life. I remember one spring break during college -- my girlfriends and I packed up our stuff, loaded up my beloved '82 Toyota Tercel (it was very, very used when I got it-- this would've been the early 90s), hit the ATM on the way out of town and then hit the road. I remember exactly how much money I withdrew. It was all I had, give or take some loose change: One hundred dollars. For a week in Florida. I can't imagine doing that today. We were splitting the gas three ways, and had a couple free places to stay along the way to the Florida Keys. We stayed at a campground in the Keys, so that was pretty inexpensive. But seriously -- can you imagine just the cost of gas driving to the Keys today? Hahaha that hundred bucks wouldn't have gotten me far.

My dad lives in the Orlando area, and I did call him early in the week to let him know I'd be coming by on the trip back north from the Keys. Good thing he wasn't out of town because I was counting on him to slip me some cash so I could afford to get back home! (Thankfully he wasn't, and he did.) 

Fast forward to 2008, and the spring break trip's a whole 'nother thing. (I love that phrase, even though it makes no sense. Is 'nother short for "another"? If so, you'd never say "a whole another thing". But anyway...) Although I've tried, oh how I've tried, with three kids I can no longer pull off the last-minute-throw-it-all-together-and-go trip.

I am fighting a mighty battle against my natural tendencies for procrastination (like writing this blog to avoid the packing! The blasted packing!) and last-minute scrambling to get out of town. I actually started packing last Sunday. I have about 10 working lists addressing everything from basic necessities to medical needs to swimming apparatuses. Thankfully they're all on the same notepad, but they're actually categorized in a way that I, and probably only I, can understand. I took today (Thursday) off to make sure we're all packed by tonight (That's not entirely true -- I took off so I could attend Claire's Daisy Girl Scout Investiture ceremony but conveniently I've been able to get some packing done too.) and I am determined to get on the road bright and early in the morning. Usually you can add a minimum of 4 hours to the time we /want/ to get out of town, to determine our actual departure time. But NOT THIS YEAR! We have a schedule and a destination and a strong hope of getting to a hotel early enough tomorrow evening to take a little swim!

Can we do it? Yes we can! (Thanks to Bob the Builder for my mantra as I face this challenge.)

Have a wonderful Easter!

Penny

P.S. Does anyone think it's fair that I'm responsible for packing for three little people and myself, while you know who only has to pack for you know who?

P.S.S. Actually I'm sure he would willingly pack for the kids, but I would hover and micromanage and drive him crazy so it actually is best that I handle all the little people packing. But it is a good excuse to whine a bit. :-)