Abu Dhabi - preparations

Perhaps you thought from my earlier post that I'd packed quiet enough into the weeks before this trip - but just wait! Our flight left Los Angeles at 7 p.m. Despite having an entire day to pack, things got rather hectic at my house.

I had taken my niece to the airport the day before. We fought back tears and she was off for her next adventure - a late semester start at college. I had a few things around the house that I wanted to put back together after her departure (and lots of things to put away until she returns for them in May, I'm not sure how her things multiplied quite so much in the nine months she stayed with us).

Our last day at home was a Friday. At my house, this means the housecleaners come. I didn't cancel this last cleaning because I thought it made sense to leave the house sparkling clean. Much as I love having the house clean, having extra people in the house makes things more challenging.

But speaking of extra people, we also had two cabinet makers in the house. We had decided to install built in shelves in our master bedroom several months ago. After all the quotes and measurements, they were ready to instal...the day we were leaving.  We got them installed but we weren't able to put anything on them because the paint was still wet. Craig's side has smaller drawers and a set of shelves because of the door in our room. My side has three enormous drawers. I can't wait to use them!

Then, there was the pile of things to be packed. We had been collecting items for our trip in my craft room for some time. Today was the day to sort all of this into four checked bags. I needed to balance the weight and the contents. I have a horrible habit of packing things too tightly and causing the bags to be overweight for air travel. Also, when I'm packing multiple bags, I like to divide things so that if the bags do not all arrive at the same time, we have a few options in each bag.

To the right, a picture I took as I began packing. It's hard to really understand just how much we were packing for this trip. We have medicines, vitamins, and toiletries that we don't like to go without. Craig had work gear - including boots and a hard hat. I had essentially three sets of outfits - one appropriate for going out alone during the day, one for going out when I'm with Craig, and one for lounging around our apartment. And we had a few items for the team here, things from home that were missed.

But in the end, we managed it all. Built-in installed. Sewing projects finished. House cleaned. Bags packed.