Stress Levels

I hate packing. I'm the worlds worst packer, in so many ways. It stresses me out to such a degree that I post pone it till.... well past the time when I ought to have started it! And on top of that, it's been a stressful few days. Oh, and there's the whole leaving my sister and .... other important people.... er.... person.... not a happy state of affairs. And it's not like I'm packing to go home.

Well, ok it is like I'm packing to go home. But I'm not actually going home! I'm off to Arches with my folks today, or maybe tomorrow (yeah.... things are really on a tight schedule. Kinda not helping much, actually! I need deadlines! Hello?!? I'm an academic!) definitely by Monday.... then, we'll be back sometime over the weekend.... Saturday? Sunday? Who knows! (That part's not so stressful.) But when I do finally get back to Salt Lake, I have at least one day with Lois. Which is really good, and quite important. Our week/weekend got hijacked by someone for her pet project, so I didn't really get to spend the last 3 days with Lois. And that stressed me out. But the whole bouncing back and forth between Salt Lake and Arches, not really helping me. It's like, I'm leaving.... psych! Now, I officially, finally, definitively leave Salt Lake on the 5th of May. But even that isn't the final hoorah.

I'm off to Florida to drive my grandma from her winter home (she's a snowbird) to her summer one in Michigan. Sounds like fun, yes? Well, it actually will be. And I'm quite looking forward to it. It's just that it's making my packing more complicated. Because I now have a domestic flight ($35 dollars for luggage!!! I'm totally going to play the, 'I'm an international traveler, and I'm on my way to my international flight. Will you please not charge me extra? card. We'll see if it works.) then at least a week of travel, probably closer to two, living out of my suitcases. So I have to pack in such a way as to balance the weight between my bags.... then repack when I get to Florida, so I can actually get to my clothes, and then repack again when I get to Michigan to distribute the weight again! Aaaaaargh! Not fun.

And then? When I finally do fly to the UK, I've got to get said luggage home, in my jet lagged condition, by myself. Through the London train/underground systems. Because I don't have family in the UK who can come collect me, and all my friends are at work. Yeah. That's going to be so much fun. Seriously, the worst part of flying back to the UK is getting home from the airport.

I'm looking forward to the individual trips. I just wish I didn't have to lug 4 months worth of stuff about with me. I'm normally a very light traveler.... I can go for 6 weeks out of a large backpack. Honest. Have done it before. But with living over here for 4 months, I needed casual, and professional things. Actually, I only arrived with half a suitcase worth of stuff. But you know how it is... Christmas sales, Spring sales.... you collect stuff. And my wardrobe really did need an overhaul. I went through and got rid of a good 60% of what I owned before I left England. So my closets were looking pretty bare. And the combination of cheaper prices (exchange rates are actually in my favour over here!) and having Lois as my personal shopping advisor, I got quite a number of things. And then there's my obsession with Scrapbooking. I bought a bunch of stuff whilst here, because it's A) cheaper, and B) available! But getting it home is no picnic. Especially with the extra travels I've got.

Aaaaargh!!!!

Ok. I'm done. Sorry.