And Tonight I Started Packing...

Okay, that could be stretching the truth a little.

Tonight, I began amalgamating items with their "likes". And got to work (or continued working) on so very many things.

The evening was dictated by some of the following...though I am losing my mind and likely forgetting key activities, events, and completed tasks. At this point I recall getting:

• food stuff together along with first aid and other medicinally related items
• batteries in their chargers and juicing them up (the back ups, too!)
• donations folded and grouped by item (pants, shirt, cloth diaper, etc) in one location
• completed lists...yes, there were more of them...such as the lists of items our children will need (I kindly refer to that list as the "Keizer Inventory" - and no they are not coming with us), lists of photocopied documentation, lists of questions (for court, for BF if we are able to make that trip this time around, etc), lists of places to visit (or not) and places to eat (or not)
• emailed more people than I could possibly have thought I'd need to...

1. would you mind watering the garden(s)
2. can you ensure me we won't need a photo when we purchase our in-country visa
3. here's our arrival time when we return
4. what the heck is the address of our guest house just in case we are overlooked
5. yes I will be here and would love to accept anything you have to drop off tomorrow
6. when am I taking your small child?...I know it's sometime over the next 2 days but just can't pinpoint what day and time I committed to
7. when you traveled to your child's birth region how did you pay for your tickets? should i bring more cash or do you think credit card will suffice?
8. how's the laundry service over there?
9. should the money order read "Receiver General for Canada" or "The Receiver General for Canada" (these details actually matter...)
10. are our tickets actual tickets or do we need to check in and get something scan-able (did I just make up a word?). and on top of that, if you, our agent sends us tickets saying we can have 2 pieces of luggage but the company with whom we are flying states only one 50 lbs piece per person, who is right

So tonight, in my mind I started packing. I started because like things are in physical proximity. I started because the lists are dumbed down to the point that nearly anyone or their dog could follow them. I started packing because all those "little things" (which really aren't that little are they?) are pretty much off my plate and now I can actually begin putting things in suitcases (which are still in the basement, in case you wanted a status update).

I started packing because if I say those exact words repeatedly (and incessantly), I feel a little less overwhelmed.