Leaving on a Jet Plane

Chaos rules supreme around here today as we head off to the airport. I have multiple lists going of all that needs to be done and all that needs to go with us. If you don’t know, my Baby Brother-in-Law is getting married this Saturday (finally!). Amazing Child will be the flower girl, Darling Geek will be in his kilt (yum!), and I have a stunning hat to wear.

But this is my life, remember? Nothing is easy. This wedding involves flying to Scotland, meeting up with the rest of the family, then trekking over to Ireland for the nuptials (my future sister-in-law is Irish). Since we’re flying 5000 miles anyway, we figured we might as well make the most of it, so Amazing Child and I won’t be back in the US for another three weeks.

Thank goodness for my lists. We have the “Packing List” that makes sure everything everyone needs makes it with us. The Packing List is further subdivided into “Carry On” and “Suitcase” so that I don’t get stuck on the airplane without a book and a toothbrush or something for AC to play with. There’s another sub-list marked “Ireland”: I don’t need to take all three weeks' worth of stuff with me to Ireland, so I’ll off-load a bunch of stuff at my in-laws’ that I won’t need while on the Emerald Isle. There’s a list for my mom, who will be house-sitting, that lists what needs to be done while we’re gone, where the insurance papers are, who to call if there’s another flood, etc. There’s a list for Darling Geek to have when he gets home, as he will be coming home a week before AC and I do.

Gotta love lists.

But, I’ll be gone for three weeks! What will I do? I can’t just call up a Playfriend to say hi. I’ll have email access, but, because of the time change, I doubt I’ll get an immediate response to any emails I send out. I know I’ll have a good time. Scotland is beautiful, and Ireland will be an adventure. I’ll have a lot of uninterrupted writing time to work on the new book. But I’ll still be absent for twenty-one days (think of all that can happen in that time!) Will y’all forget me while I’m gone? Will anyone even notice my absence?

I’ll be checking in while I’m gone, but probably not three times every day like I normally do. But I’ll be thinking about y’all. I leave Kira in charge of all trouble-making while I’m gone.

Y’all have fun—but not the kind of fun I’d want to miss.

(Helpful blog readers can suggest non-PC activities for the other Playfriends in the comments tail.)

PC