Four days to go
What's the opposite of being burgled? Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure it's happened to us. Someone has snuck into our flat and deposited enough stuff to fill a house belonging to a family of five and several of their closest friends. Where did it all come from? Please remind me next time I'm in Boots that I have enough packets of tissues to keep us going through several more animal-related pandemics. I must have had a panic at some point that I didn't have quite enough Kleenex to wallpaper the entire apartment should I decide to do so on a Tamiflu-inspired whim. This is no longer a worry.
However, some good has come of all of this. All those hours I supposedly wasted as a child playing Tetris on my Gameboy have finally paid off. I am now a master of fitting anything and everything (no matter how irregular the shape) into a confined space without leaving any gaps. Storage solutions could learn a thing or two from Nintendo. If only it similarly all disappeared once the gaps were filled, I'd be laughing. At the very least, Paul's parents (who have very kindly sacrificed a room to our storage needs) would sob a little less when we turn up on their doorstep with our lorry-load.
So, with four days to go we are very much in the denial stage regarding just how much there is still to do. They say travelling will help you find yourself and learn about what kind of person you are. So far I have learnt that I'm the kind of person to always watch the Winter Olympics when I should be packing (having had very little interest in it before now) and that, for the most part, you can find me in whichever room doesn't accommodate our To Do list. Despite this and my overwhelming urge to build a grand fort out of cardboard, things seem to be getting done. Belongings are getting packed. Dust is being removed from nooks and crannies we never knew existed. Our lives are slowly shifting into the next phase.
Today we both had our hair cut to tide us over until we return. I made the mistake of mentioning to my hairdresser that I was going travelling and thus wanted something that would grow into a decent style during the three months we're away. I think she must have thought I said three years. Still, at least I now know what my scalp looks like. I've heard a shaved head is a very manageable look for a life on the road.
It's now 3am and the schedule dictates I sleep so I can be up and at 'em in five hours time. But... but... the ice hockey semi-final's on! Just five more minutes momma? Please?
