Nine days & counting

Nine days and counting; we’re checking a few things off the list each day as the dining room gets a bit more hectic with boxes and garbage bags full of clothes. I spent the morning on the Chiang Mai forum reading about where the best place is to rent a motorbike, buy brown bread, get your teeth cleaned, and how life in Phuket compares to life in the North.

I have this vague uneasy feeling that I’m forgetting something. I’ve made list after list, and meticulously labeled folders for each step of the journey but there’s that nagging fear that I’ve left out some major element. The pot of gold, of course, is our family of three landing safe and sound in June; everything else is simply paving the way to make that happen.

It’s this lull before the storm that is the most unnerving. Still lots to do but just a bit too early to take action. If it were up to me, I’d have the kitchen reduced to a few boxes and be eating picnic style for the next week. Gary says I’m being just this side of obsessive, but I don’t care -- I’m ready to be on the road: physically, emotionally & spiritually.

I’m going through the familiar “last time” mantras: last time to go to Trader Joe’s, last time hiking with the dog at the Ridge Trail, last time hanging out at the pub down the street. A string of small goodbyes.