holiday packing

I'm currently pacing around my parents' house, trying to remember all of the things I need to take with me back to Kuwait. I tried making a list, but I keep getting new things and thinking of different things to take or not, so making sure I have everything on a list has become futile at this point. I also keep getting "honey-do" messages from a certain you-know-who (the best you-know-who in the world, by the way). All that to say, packing is slow and highly unorganized at best, and it seems to continually be interrupted by one of three things:

1. these little sweethearts

Rebekah, 2

Nick, 4

2. sports/dinner/hunting commentary with the family

3. lunch, dinner, and parties with friends

My solution is to try and keep things in one general area of the house and then throw it all in my bags before I go to the airport on Saturday. That's probably why I often wait until the day of departure before I pack for any trip.

Time in the States has been good this Christmas. Generally, I try to maintain a low-key schedule when I'm here, just to be sure that it's relaxing and that I'm not totally exhausted by the time I start teaching again. Inevitably, those good intentions are shattered because a lot of our friends are in town for the holidays, too, so it's hard to pass up opportunities to get together. I can always sleep on the plane...and if Chris were here, I know we would be a lot busier!