Checking Off

Continuing to check off the list. Today Rider's new stroller arrived and had to be assembled. You would think that two reasonably intelligent adults could speedily dispatch such a chore. Guess again! The directions were in one booklet and  another booklet contained the step-by-step "pictures". It took a little while but was accomplished with no backtracking because of assembling incorrectly. Hooray! ( This scenario was eerily similar to Christmas Eves in the past.) It is a great stroller with reclining seat, sunshade, cup holder and is fairly easy to fold. However, I truly don't know who can do it with one hand as is claimed. Next...do we need a travel bag for the stroller? I'll be combing the internet for parental blogs about transporting strollers.


I didn't really consider that when you will be gone from home for seven weeks, your life (at home) doesn't stop so you must plan ahead accordingly. Tonight was a time to make airplane and hotel reservations for a wedding that will be in Connecticut in August. Also needed to order a couple of wedding presents for the events we'll be missing. Picked up the extra cash for the trip and revised my packing list to conform to some informational tidbits from the BU Tuscany Handbook. Evidently, our locale will be about 10 degrees cooler than Florence and down to the 50's at night necessitating a sweater or light jacket. This was a good day to complete totally inane items on the list including changing over the "lock" on the hairdryer to European current, double checking with the bank and credit card companies about their rates for using the cards in Italy and letting them know the dates of the trips. I also checked with USAA about my home-owner insurance policy to be sure that the ipad will be covered. Some people reading this will remember the debacle when Betsy and Steve had their laptops stolen in Costa Rica only an hour after they arrived for the wedding! 


Additionally, I told my sister where to find the emergency information 
list (passwords, credit card numbers etc.) in the house in case Paul is out of town and I can't find the one I'm taking. And I packed the extra key for the car as Paul will be in California when we return and will park the car in Atlanta, email me the location and Betsy and I will retrieve it so we can drive ourselves home. Nothing is simple.


Of course, Betsy and I talked today and she continues to check things off but her list is more complicated as the renters in the guest house moved out yesterday and she and Steve are preparing for new renters to move in just one day before they leave to come here. With the possibility that Steve will not be living in the house all summer, many things have to be made "automatic" like outdoor sprinklers, thermostats and lists of emergency contacts for the renters. I can only imagine the logistics it took to move Napoleon's Army when I contemplate the details this little jaunt has generated.