In Preparation, Part I

 On Friday morning, Daisy and I finalized plans to visit my parents this year -- in March. We are less than two months away. 

I checked with them first, of course, to make sure it was an okay time to visit. It was. 

The tickets have been booked, the rental car has been booked, and we have spoken with our catsitter, who appears to be able to make it work over the course of the trip. We'll be gone six days total -- a travel day at each end of the trip and four full days there with my parents in North Carolina. Since Pete has now left us, we'll likely only need her there every other day or so, and she can come every day if she wants.

The entire trip, save for the rental car and food/incidentals while we're there -- is covered by our airline miles. It is, essentially, free flights for us there and back. We will both put in the requisite PTO today at our respective jobs.

So begins the preparations. 

March in North Carolina, per my parents, is still relatively chilly. But, it's not Omaha chilly. In Omaha, we're likely to still have the chance of snow and temperatures in the 20s and 30s in March. On the island, that's generally not the case. Lows in the 40s at night, sure. Highs in the 60s and maybe brushing with 70-80? That is what we're looking for. 

It's a gamble, though -- the Carolinas get tornadoes, they get severe storms, and it can get really rough there when those things happen. It's the spring, it's the changing of the seasons, and the atmosphere can get somewhat volatile. Then again, the same is true for Omaha. Generally in Omaha though the weather waits until a bit later before it gets terrifying -- April, May, June, July -- those are the sweet-spot months for severe weather in Omaha. Tornado Alley is starting to shift further south and east of us, too, based on the trends of the past decade or so. 

None of this means anything, of course -- it's all pure speculation. I told Daisy that the latest I wanted to visit my parents this year was March or April, primarily because of weather concerns both here and there, and because I wanted to avoid the heat of summer on the island -- the oppressive heat and humidity that drains all of our energy from us and turns us into toads when we're there, heat we can't escape from even in our sleep at night. 

So, here's the question -- what do we pack? How do we pack?

March is likely too cold for much oceanic exploration, but truthfully it would likely be one of the best times to spend on the beach -- no tourists, not a lot of out-of-towners clogging up the roads and beaches, just the locals. It's way outside of the tourist season, which generally begins on Memorial Day weekend and lasts until Labor Day weekend. 

I can and usually do travel light when we go to visit my parents -- and I have no need to purchase any more souvenirs or the like. But, chillier temperatures mean warmer clothing. It means hoodies and maybe sweatpants -- actually, likely sweatpants -- and normal shoes instead of flip-flops. And strangely I am okay with this. I know it should be leaps and bounds warmer than it is in Omaha during that same time. So let's see what happens.

Then there's the question of suitcases.

As you may recall, upon return from our trip to Canada last fall, my giant hardshell suitcase got shattered on one of the lower corners -- coincidentally, right in the wheel well for the spinner wheel. So, because of that, under any load (read: if there's anything in it at all) it will crush in on itself and topple over. That makes it useless, and this morning I wrapped two large trash bags around it and unceremoniously gave it a burial within my giant trash can. 

On that same trip, Daisy's handle ripped off her own suitcase -- the one she's had since before we got together, a giant softshell suitcase with cherries all over it that her mother bought her when she was in college because "a girl needs good luggage." Well, after about thirty trips to and from Canada, to and from West Virginia, North Carolina, Chicago, New Orleans, South Dakota, etc...it's finally worn itself out and it's time for it to be retired and trashed. 

So, both of us were in the need for new luggage.

I'm going to pause here for a moment to state that I do have another suitcase, a smaller (but still nice) black one I purchased for $40 or so before our first trip to Canada in 2015 -- and Daisy has a very similar one as well that used to be her Grandfather's. However, those aren't exactly the most mobile suitcases. They're good for making "let's get the fuck out of here" emergency luggage, like if we have to drop everything and leave the country (something that, sadly, is still at the forefront of my mind) but aren't good daily suitcases. Her Grandfather's doesn't even have wheels on it, and mine only has two dragger wheels -- it's not a spinner. 

As you may have realized if you've been following this page for some time, Daisy and I tend to travel a lot. A lot for us may not be a lot for you, but I think 2-3 trips per year, especially if one of those trips is  usually out of country, qualifies. Therefore, we need some actual quality luggage that is going to hold up but isn't going to cost us $800 per suitcase. 

Okay, well, here we gooooo...

That is the new suitcase I ordered. For $79, if it doesn't hold up more than a couple of years, I am strangely okay with it. I got the lime green because it also matches my luggage tags and because it'll be easy to spot when it comes down the chute at the baggage claim. Also, I love green things. Lime green and seafoam green are two of my favorite colors. I don't exactly know why. It arrives Tuesday.

Daisy has not yet selected a new suitcase. She wants a softshell, not a hardshell suitcase. I told her she could always wait and see if she likes the design of mine, and if so, we could get her one in another color and we would have matching luggage. 

I told her not to stress about it. We have time. She doesn't have to find something today, tomorrow, or even next week. She just needs it before March.

After all, it's not like she'll pack until the day before we leave anyhow.

As you all know, I am not that person. I've already begun putting together the to-do list and to-pack list of things I'll need. It's how I hype myself up for an upcoming trip; I am, as you may know, a meticulous planner. I can confirm with you, however, that I have not packed anything yet. I also do not know if I will need the suitcase or if I can just make a go of it with my big canvas backpack as I've done for previous trips to visit my parents. Because of our AAdvantage status and our airline miles/having the AA card, we do each get a free checked bag. I also am the person who doesn't like to carry more than he has to, though -- especially just for a trip to visit my parents. It's not like the Canada trips, where a suitcase is absolutely necessary. 

In the end I'll likely take the suitcase, primarily because I'd like to be able to bring back a big Carhartt coat from Gabes if they have them in stock when we're in Wilmington, and because the suitcase will allow me to take all the comics I need to give to my dad. But do I think I'm going to be coming home with a lot of souvenirs and stuff like that? Psh, no. 

Make no mistake, this is a trip that is to primarily be spent on soul-soothing times -- quiet time with my parents in the spring, a nice getaway to the island and tropical weather fully away from Nebraska -- an escape, in essence, from Nebraska for a few days to a place where if I could remove myself from routine and news and politics enough, I could enjoy living for the rest of my life. I am so weary of the world that I need an escape. I need somewhere to go where I'm not feeling crushed by the headlines or the stress of my job or our household debt. Every bit of this trip is psychological for me. It is, essentially, something I can look forward to so that I can stave off any sort of psychotic break. The fact that I get to spend it with my wife, the parents, the dogs, and we get to go visit our favorite restaurants while we're there are all, simply, bonuses. It also takes care of one of my New Year's resolutions that I posted here earlier this month.

I feel sort of bad about it actually; my parents were sort of blindsided on us coming. I asked them if they had anything going on in March, and before my mother could even fully answer, Daisy was already booking the trip. Luckily there's no conflicts with our timing, though my mother did suggest that we come later in the year. I told her, frankly, I did not want to -- I don't want to be killed by sweat and heat and we can't make the trip in the fall this year -- maybe next year -- because we have plans (more to come on that, here, eventually). Still, my parents are always very happy to have us whenever we come in, and to be fair, most of the time it is really inexpensive for us to make said trip, because...well, think about it -- we stay with my parents (which eliminates a lodging expense), we get maybe $100 or so worth of groceries and supplies when we come into town, get a rental car, and spend less than $500 on out-and-about things while we're there before we pack up shop and fly home. The flights are covered by our airline miles this time around, making it even cheaper. All around in-and-out, beginning-to-end, we spend less than a grand for the entire trip. We're not really people of means, but spending less than $1k total on a week-long, cross-country vacation is pretty damn good.

In comparison...you do not want to know how much it costs when we go to Canada to visit the family up there. It's not cheap. It will be cheaper than it used to be going forward, since Daisy's grandmother mentioned that she wants us to stay with her when we're there, but still...it's a lot. 

A trip to Chicago and back, which is also on the docket for some point soon (hopefully) is overall far more expensive than it is to go visit my parents. Seeing my parents is by far the most inexpensive travel experience we have available to us. 

Anyway.

I believe I've entered a sort of manic phase as of late, where I will get a lot of energy and feel really excitable and creative, and I have to burn that energy off somehow -- so I dive into cleaning and rearranging things, taking care of chores and tasks that have sort of fallen to the wayside. When I run out of energy and crash out, I rest really well and really cleanly. For example, today I:

• Got 3/4 of the way through my "shred box" of papers and mail to be shredded
• Stripped the bed, washed the bedsheets and blankets, dried them and replaced them
• Did two other loads of laundry -- one was Daisy's clothing and the other was towels
• Rearranged my office for maximum efficiency
• Fed the cats, pilled Mable, gave Hank his eyedrops, and fed the snails
• Disposed of my old suitcase
• Boxed up approximately half the comics I plan to take to NC for my dad
• Vacuumed the entire house
• Backed up my HDD
• Listened to three different podcasts
• Added some notes to my short stories and came up with an entirely new idea
• Spent time with the wife and had dinner with her
• Took a short nap with Gary and Dolly
• Got up, began writing here

I don't even do a third, or a fifth of this on most days. But, because I had today off because of my comp day for MLK Day, I was able to hunker down and focus on a lot of tasks I would not necessarily would have been able to do otherwise. Yes, I'm still tired and rather stressed. Yes, it's still -6 outside and I still haven't left the house. But, this weekend was able to give me a bit of a reset and a lot of breathing space that I desperately needed to center myself. 

The rest of this week is likely not going to go as smoothly. Tomorrow I am backing up my boss as he is out of the office traveling on his own winter vacation. Tuesday morning we take Emmy and Dolly in to the vet for their next scheduled appointments, literally as soon as I get off work. A week from tomorrow I have an 8am teeth cleaning at my dentist, an appointment I've been dreading for a while because, well, I don't like going to the dentist at all -- and doing it after I've worked all night the night before is one of my personal versions of hell, and on Groundhog Day at that. 

There's actually a lot of things coming up in the time between now and the trip to see my parents:

• Dolly and Emmy's vet appointments
• The Groundhog Day dentist appointment
• The 13th anniversary of when I proposed to Daisy (Valentine's Day)
• Mable's 2nd birthday
• Daisy's Dad's birthday

And I'm sure there's some other things I'm missing as well.

However, that about does it for what I have to share at the moment. I am tired again, and it is time for me to reset my sleep schedule for the remainder of the week so that I can become a cog in the corporate telecom machine again for the next few days.

More to come.