now what am I forgetting????

Planning my trip to Utila sooo far in advance has it's pros and it's cons. 

Pro - you have lot of time to prep and prepare.... 

Con- you have lots of time to prep and prepare.... until one day you wake up and you don't ! 

Disappearing from your life for 2 months takes some planning... I'm not in that bad of shape actually, or at least that's what I'm telling myself for now.  For the most part, things actually seem to be coming together nicely. (give or take a few small things)  Regarding work I have 4 days left  in the office....  (giggle)  Well actually 3 days and 2 half days, as I'm taking Monday and Thursday afternoons off next week, plus Friday as well. Tomorrow I will finish prepping all of the payroll cycles for while I am away, I have a few more meetings to finish up with Team Leaders, and I need to tie some loose ends up on 5 or 6 little projects and I'll be ready to try to disconnect....  funny, I can't really type that without laughing....  me disconnect?? fingers crossed that I'll be able to do that in a reasonable amount of time.... I'm hoping for less than 1 week, but let's face it. I am my father's daughter...   I'll be dreaming about benefits & immigration for longer than I'd like!

When it comes to packing I'm in what I like to call the "laundry basket faze".  There are 6 laundry baskets on my dining room table and into each I put thing that I probably want to bring. My baskets have categories... clothes, meds, food (drink crystals, the tea I like, granola bars, tuna.... yes, tuna), books, etc. Some of them are getting rather full, and with limited luggage space it's coming time to make some serious decisions... the tuna is definitely coming!    So far it seems that clothing is the easiest part.

• 4 bathing suits
• bras, undies, 3 pairs of socks
• 2 pj bottoms (1 fleece - or inferno pants for those in the know)
• 5 pairs of capris (1 denim, 4 yoga)
• 5 tank tops  
• 1 pair of yoga pants
• 1 pair of jeans
• 1 skirt
• 8 short sleve tops
• 1 long sleve top
• 2 hoodies (1 zip, 1 kangaroo)
• running shoes, 3 pairs flip-flops
• hats x 3

I think that's all I'll need...??... right?  of corse there is sooo much more that I will be bringing with me....  Scuba Gear for 1, plus toiletries, bug spray, sunscreen & a small pharmacy of just in cases.....  I am only slightly concerned that border officials will think that I'm drug running.... but really, what's the market on Benadryl, Pepto-Bismo and Alieve (naproxin) anyways?? 

The new carry-on restrictions sound like pure hell fun!!  Basically passengers who are flying on flights which land in the U.S.A. are restricted from bringing on carry-on luggage on board the flight. We are allowed to check extra luggage for free, but that doesn't really help me  considering the restriction on my final flight to the Island.  Luckily to this rule there are a few exceptions.  I may bring a purse (no larger than a football, containing no liquids), my laptop with accessories, and my camera.  I think that I'll be fine.  I may be pushing the limit a bit with all of my computer accessories that I plan on brining on board (3 external HDs, cables & cords with all cords for my iPhone too) plus I can fit three of my 4 cameras into my camera case, so I will....     fingers crossed.   I'd really like to have my underwater camera housing with me on the flight, but it's bulky and weird looking, so I guess I'll cave and pack it (in tons of bubble wrap!!!)  I'm also going to try to see if they will let me bring my regulators on board with me..... (the things that I breath with while diving)  I really don't want some luggage guy to be throwing those around!!!  I do have a special case with lots of padding for them, but I'd still be happier if I had them in my hands.   Luckily my dive computer wears like an oversized watch. I'll look like I have weird taste in accessories, but I'm allowed to wear a watch on board!! 

As far as everything else goes, it's coming together.  Still some prep work for my house.  Luckily it's garbage day just before I leave, so I'll get to do a good clean-out of my fridge two days before I go.  I have an appointment to take my car in for service next week & I'll also be adding anti-freeze to the gas line and hooking her up to a trickle charger...  to keep her battery happy during the cold cold COLD weather that Toronto will be having while I'm gone (yea for fabulous car service reps who make life easy... and who make going to the car dealership fun.....  thank you Mr. Johnston! )   Money still needs to be exchanged and some last minute errands are still on my list...   there is a reason why I have a day off of work before I go.  :o)

As I mentioned before I'm taking Monday afternoon off.. This is so that I can head out to Cambridge to celebrate Logan's 1st Birthday.  (Yea!!  Happy 1st Birthday Little Man!!!)  His birthday is actually on Friday the 15th, but being that I'm flying out early on the 16th I just can't make that work.  This way I get him all to myself for a bit :o)   ....  well plus...  this will also give his Mommy an opportunity to work her magic on me and make all of those lovely  grey hairs "Arctic Blond Highlights" that seem to keep growing on my head disappear.... 


Thursday afternoon and Friday will most likely be spent picking up last minute things and final packing and prep.

I'm waiting for that panic moment to hit... I'm sure that I'll have one at some point. Utill that happens I'm focusing my mind on the ocean, and the adventures to come.