Feeling just a tiny bit of stress

By -

Today I'm going through my clothes, packing some away, getting rid of some, and considering a too-large pile to bring on our year-long Field Trip. I've been mentally preparing for this for days and also expounding to the kids on how they should approach the packing. "Think versatility!" I say. And someone usually says, "What's versatility?" just to bug me. Or Phin says, "Your mom thinks versatility." (That's his latest joke, putting "Your mom" at the beginning of every sentence someone says. Isn't he so funny?) The other words I'm thinking are "practical" and "comfortable" and "minimal." I think it actually helps me to get these words into my head, so I can be merciless in my choices. I've convinced myself that even if we can't quite manage to travel with only carry-on luggage, we will be happier if we limit our checked luggage as much as possible.

The idea of the eight of us dragging two carry-ons (I mean a carry-on piece and a "personal item") plus a checked bag each through airports, train stations, and various forms of public transportation sounds really bad. Let's do the math: that's 16 duffle bag/backpack size things and 8 giant suitcases! Not a good idea. So I'm shooting for three or so checked things for the whole family. We are bringing my acoustic guitar in a hard case, so that's one big piece, but at least it's pretty lightweight. We might also bring a monitor for Jon to use with his laptop for work. Other than that, I plan on the big (checked) suitcases having some extra clothes, shoes, and some toiletries. And a bunch of yarn that is going to be a sweater vest for Zed. It's funny that the yarn takes up more space than the vest will.

I look forward to a year with relatively little stuff, but it's kind of hard getting there. Like I hadn't thought of this before, but what do I do with the giant basket of single socks that I always keep, just in case I find the other one? I guess after all of the packing, I'll be throwing those away. Anyone want to make sock puppets?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

By -
What a fun book to read. We read this for book club and then watched the movie (which wasn't necessary since we've all seen it so many times we were quoting the whole thing). It is better to know from the beginning that Goldman wrote it all, there is no S. Morgenstern. You feel less duped. I thought it was really obvious that Goldman is the true author (his humor is the same throughout, there's no way the language is from the era Goldman claims it is from), but, I do remember thinking it really was an abridgment when I read it in high school or junior high. And a lot of the ladies at book club didn't know the whole thing is fake either. Some decided they didn't like the book just because they felt deceived by the author. It is so funny though. And you get all this background information about Inigo, Fezzik and Buttercup. I love the way he tries to place the book in time... "This was before Europe," then later he talks about Paris. Also, when he describes...
Read more

Arrested Development, Season One (2003)

By -
I really enjoyed this and even started to feel a little addicted to it by the end. I like watching TV shows on DVD—it’s great to have no commercials and to be able to watch as many episodes as you want. Although this can also be detrimental if you watch six or eight episodes and find it’s 1:00 am when you finally force yourself to stop. Anyway, “Arrested Development” is very funny. All of the characters are hilarious and well-acted, and one of them rides a Segue! Shouldn’t more people be making fun of Segues? I’m looking forward to seeing the second season, but I don’t know if we can bring ourselves to buy it. We like to leach off of other people for our DVD needs, especially when it comes to TV shows.
Read more

No! by They Might Be Giants

By -
On Christmas Eve, we went to our little CD and other music stuff store to buy a CD for Uncle Chayee (that's Charlie to you). It turned out to be one of those shopping trips where we buy stuff we weren't planning to buy. This often happens to us with books and CDs. The CD I chose on a whim No! by They Might Be Giants, a CD for kids that is really great! I am not a big fan of most kids' music that I hear other people playing for their kids. Even though we have six kids, we don't actually own any of that music, so I could be wrong. No Disney soundtracks or Barney crap or whatever it is most parents buy for their kids. We are selfish parents when it comes to music. (This should be no surprise, since Jon is also known as The Musical Tyrant.) This CD is the best gathering of kids' songs I have yet encountered. The kids love it and have been playing it constantly since they discovered it, and I'm not sick of it yet! It's funny and nonsensical and has lots of d...
Read more