We are currently on a mini vacation or not depending on when this gets posted. 🙂
My favorite part of traveling is arriving. My not so favorite part is packing and getting the house ready for our departure.
I am always amazed how opposites attract and this certainly applies to Paul and me when we pack to travel.
He can be done in 30 minutes or less. Add 15 minutes if has to pick out a nice outfit for an elegant dinner, wedding or graduation. The time packing said outfit takes longer because first he spends a good amount of time arguing with me that shorts and a t-shirt should suffice for any occasion. Sometimes I wonder if he just does this to annoy me. In any case his total time to pack is less than an hour.
It takes me much longer. Maybe not for the clothes, shoes and assorted toiletries but deciding how to entertain myself while traveling or at our destination.
It can be anything from books, crocheting, writing, scrapbooking etc. Of course add in electronics, chargers, real books or an e-reader or a combo of both.
In a word ..YIKES
I have learned not to pack days in advance as I forget what I have packed and I either add more ( just in case) or totally unpack and start over.
Yes I am a hot traveling mess.
I say that with affection because, well it is just who I am.
I am profoundly grateful to whoever invented packing cubes because those have helped 🙂
It does help if we fly because we usually do carry on and then I have much needed limits.
On this latest trip we took my car and Paul insisted we clean it, because it also is a bit of a mess. A carry over from when my kids and grandkids were little and the car was held together with scattered cheerios, stickiness, receipts, several pairs of mismatched shoes, sports equipment and lots of brown sticks that used to be french fries.
It is not that bad now but it does seem to accumulate random items. I swear it is not me. Reminds me of the midwest when you lock your car doors in the summer to prevent people from giving you their bumper crop of zuchini.
It must be gremlins. 🙂
When we lived in Hawaii I had a friend who lived in a very small apartment with her hubby and 3 kids. It was immaculate!! Her car however was not. She said she had to let her inner mess maker loose somewhere and the car won! You have no idea how much I loved that!
Car snacks are a must for any trip so off we went in my now clean car. I have to admit it was nice until we got out to stretch and Paul’s side remained immaculate while my seat was covered in crumbs. As I made my case for why the crumbs were there ( of course not my fault) I promptly spilled half my lunch on my shirt.
What can I say I am a walking yard sale or a grown toddler in disguise.
Paul chuckled so I have to give him credit for being a good sport.
Paul claims to be organized and he is but often he organizes not for function but for looks.
I have proof. In our previous home we had a huge pantry. A dangerous place for me. Paul decided to organize it. What he really did was play ‘Pantry Tetris” It looked beautiful but things I used everyday were way out of my reach because they fit there and it took me an entire year to find things he had fit in those random spaces. Arghh
Looked pretty but no bueno.
It helps that we both have a good sense of humor and I am thrilled opposites attract. I make Paul’s life interesting and he helps me find things I have misplaced and I will admit some of his organization has rubbed off on me.
We fill in the spaces for each other, we laugh, roll our eyes, argue, make up and love unconditionally because life is short.
Thanks for being the organized one to my walking yard sale hot mess persona 🙂
We are a pair..oh and sorry about that time I accidentally crushed the brand new garage door with my car..that’s another story for another day! I am triing hehehe…
As usual keep triing,
Jennifer
P.S. I try and post every Tuesday…except when I don’t which is this week 🙂