"How can one horse be off in a bunch?!"

Gotta be an Abbott & Costello fan to appreciate that one. ;-)

In any case, we're all set and rarin' to go! It's been a good, productive AND relaxing day around here today. I don't pull off that combination very often. We started with cereal for breakfast, then devotions. We had some plumbers come and take the faucet and stuff off of the tub in our bathroom. They'll take it back to their shop, fix it up, and bring it back here (sounds strangely like the Grinch...)--in three weeks, that is. They weren't here long, so that's good. Every moment with a plumber is very expensive, you know?!

Once they left we loaded up and went to the library to return last weeks' books and pick up some new ones to keep the kids ocupado on the trip. Stopped by the bank and the Post Office, too.

Got home and gave the boys haircuts. They were way too shaggy to take to the Assembly and Stacey isn't nearby to help out in our hour of need anymore. I was scared to take them to an unknown barber at a time like this, so I decided to do it myself. I was pretty scared of that, too, but our options and time were limited, you know?! They don't look great, but they're not nearly as shaggy as they were--and for an amateur I think I did okay. I didn't cut anything too short, just in case I messed up big. I wanted to leave room for a real hair person to fix it. :-)

I wasn't feeling at all well today, so by the time the haircuts were finished I was ready for a nap. I called a family nap time and everybody headed to their beds with their books. (The kids were highly upset that they couldn't take any of the new library books. I'm making them save them for the trip so they'll have something "new" to do!) I crashed. The kids got up after an hour, but I stayed in bed and slept for two! It was a wonderful-terrible sort of thing. I felt so lazy, but by the time I finally got up I was feeling soooooooo much better than before!

The kids were good to keep themselves busy today. Although the boys' methods of playing aren't always what I would prefer. I walked in their room sometime today and Joe was tying Sam up to the bedpost so he could "burn him at the stake." Where did he learn about burning people at the stake?! I guess they didn't get that far though because next thing I knew they'd gone outside and caught another snake.

Katie spent some time visiting with the neighbors today and I went down long enough to meet Eric's wife and daughter. Eric is my age and he's the one that Katie talks to--and about--the most. He's a really, really nice guy and we all enjoy visiting with him. He's been here to help his dad with the house, but he's heading back to Kansas in a few days. I hope Katie's not too terribly disappointed if we leave before they show up to work tomorrow. She didn't tell him goodbye today, so hopefully she'll get a chance tomorrow.

I finished up with the packing today, but didn't load the van. I usually do that the night before, but I decided to just wait until the morning. Somehow packing (even for The Big Trip) doesn't seem nearly as stressful as it used to be. Maybe I've done it enough that I'm getting better at it... Or maybe I just don't worry as much as I used to... Or maybe it's because our kids are old enough now that it makes life easier! THAT'S what it is. We don't have to worry about a crib and a stroller and diapers and baby food and 4 changes of clothes a day and toys for during the Assembly and... ~whew!~ Wears me out just thinking about those days! Ha! It really is so much easier now that we're past that stage. Although I dreamed the other night that we had a another baby--a beautiful, happy, blonde baby girl. Don't tell James. ;-)

Things were coming together well enough that we took a break this evening and played Bocce Ball with the kids for a while. It's much easier now that James has mowed everything down. Ah, yes! I keep forgetting to mention that! James has spent the past week mowing the yard. We, of course, don't have a typical "yard," we have a mountain kind of yard. That hasn't seemed to hinder him at all. He's mowed down the few blades of grass on the property... along with every weed, shrub, bush and tree under three feet tall. No kidding--I watched him the other day and it was AMAZING the things he was plowing under! He'd rear the thing way back and slam it down on top of whatever unfortunate greenery happened to be in his path. You'd hear some chunk-a-chunk-a-chunk-a noises for a few seconds, then the motor would stop. He'd lift it up and give it some room to get things whirling again and then *wham* slam it back down again. Ha! It was quite a show. I finally asked him, "Is that mower really made for that sort of thing?" "Oh, probably not," he said. It didn't matter. He was on a mission and he was having way too much fun. I made him promise to leave some of the trees. We live in the mountains and are surrounded by trees. I don't want to lose them all to the Maniacal Mower!

We've been doing really good clearing out the fridge the past few days. I hate wasting food and it's sooooo easy to do when you go on a 3 week trip. You either throw stuff out ahead of time or come home to green and fuzzy things that might get up and walk away at any time. By tonight we had very little left that might go bad while we were gone, just milk. I ate the last of the tuna fish and the kids all had cereal for dinner--to use up some of the milk. Gotta love that! At $4 a gallon you can't bear to let a single drop go to waste, you know?! We actually paid $2.50 for this particular gallon, but still. James made himself a breakfast burrito later on tonight, using up the rest of the lunchmeat in it. Wa-Hoo! Cereal again in the morning should finish off the rest of the milk, meaning the only thing we'll have to throw out will be a few slices of bread. Unless I can talk everybody into eating some toast... :-)

All the kids had baths tonight and I took my shower, too, so I wouldn't have to take time for that in the morning. So when we get up we just have to throw everything in the van and watch James circle the house 8 times checking all of the windows and doors and the thermostat and hot water heater and all that stuff. Then we'll be off! The computer says we're about 22 hours from Cleveland. We were about 18 away in Texas. We'll see how long it really takes us. (The computer isn't usually completely accurate.) 11 hours a day is about as far as we can go--everybody just sort of SNAPS at the 11 hour mark, like clockwork--so let's hope the computer didn't underestimate! :-)

~sigh~ I'm still wide awake. James is sleeping soundly next to me (I can tell by the contented snoring)--although tomorrow he'll insist that he "didn't sleep at all last night." I know that man. ;-) I'd better TRY to get some sleep anyway. G'night!