Officially Geeked

I’ve got a long to-do list today. We are 48 hours out from the trip and today I’ll do most of the harder physical things that need to be done before we leave. That way, Thursday’s activities will have a smaller chance of throwing my back out. Such are the adjustments I’ve learned to make as I have gotten older. Driving 860 miles over a day and a half makes demands on my back, hamstrings, and nerves that were never a thing back in the day. Now, I have to get a massage the day before I leave. Grrr…

I will cut the grass today, the comprehensive deluxe package including trimming and gathering up sticks and pine cones. I have to leave the place spotless before I hand over maintenance to Cash-Man, my neighbor’s strapping boy who will be responsible for its care and feeding while I’m gone. Cash and his two adorable sisters have been my “practice grandchildren” and I their practice Grandfather for over ten years now. I must say that the three of them are getting harder and harder to buy presents for when we are in Maine. They’ve gotten so stinking big and their tastes have changed. 

Lucy heads to the groomers this morning. I’ve been telling her for days now and she is pumped. Nothing like a trip to the doggie beauty parlor for her special Maine cut.

I still have some last minute things to get buttoned up at the office, so I will go in this afternoon for a bit and say my farewells to everyone. Unlike the aforementioned practice grandchildren, the girls at the office are super easy to buy for. They all want blueberry jam, and maple syrup and anything else edible.

I will make one last visit to the Thrift store to bring treats to the saints who volunteer there every day.

I will then start packing my stuff, and trying really hard to look like I’m thinking it all through carefully instead of merely throwing a bunch of random t-shirts and gym shorts in my suitcase. I do this to impress Pam who has for days now been methodically laying out a variety of potential outfits all over several beds in our house. She packs for Maine like a NASA engineer making a flight plan to Mars. Although it should be noted that while I have on occasion forgotten things due to my ADHD packing style, it was my wife who left every single one of her bathing suits at home one year and her contacts the next year. Of course she would counter with something like—“ perhaps if I didn’t have to check up on your unorganized mess of a suitcase, I would have been less distracted.” Excellent point.

The time is growing short. The excitement is building. And I can hardly believe I am still this geeked up over a trip I have made at least 40 times in my life.