35

Oh my, oh my, we are getting closer, people, we are getting closer. You can tell it from all the emotion floating around at our house too. *whew* My friends who travel a week before me are in the 20s now. Holy moly, when I thought of that, I got a little shaky. *smile* Would someone else who has done this before tell me it is perfectly normal to be really nervous at this point? If it's not, just don't tell me and let me think it's normal.

I had great plans to mail out the visa applications and the letter to USCIS, but that went south when I left my wallet at home so no check to pay for the visas, and then I noticed that I didn't have a visa photo for me and that Jennifer had not signed the back of hers. Now, all is well, and I'm going to try to get it all in the mail tomorrow.

This weekend I'm going to try to see if Kevin and I can get our office cleaned out. We've tried for several weeks to get going on this and we have made progress, but something else always comes up. That and Ellie's closet are the last two "projects" we'd like to have done before she comes home. Each one could be completed in a weekend.

Jennifer and I have begun to talk about what to pack and what we'll need and started making some preliminary lists. I have a packing list (courtesy of Hilary) that I will use for most everything but there are some conveniences that I'd like to take. Here's an example. I will forewarn you that you will think I am absolutely nuts, but, so be it. We are staying at the SRL. There are fridges in the room. Because of not drinking the water there, I also don't drink the ice and I MISSED ice in a bad way. At home, I only drink sodas from a cup with a straw unless I absolutely have to drink it from a bottle. So, I'm packing a small ice tray that I will fill with bottled water and taking my own cup and I will be able to have soda with ice in a cup (and I might even take some straws). I'm there two weeks, people, I almost had a break-down last time because there was no ice.