Packing and shopping and working and cleaning…oh my!November 22nd, 2005 @ 10:13 am
Vacations are fun. We all love them. I love them. But I hate the prep work for actually leaving. We are leaving tomorrow directly from work. That means I have to have my bag packed and with me when I leave for work tomorrow morning. Last night I decided it would be best if I started to lay out all the gear for the trip. We are only going to be gone for 11 days. And I have to carry all my stuff on my back. Needless to say I had big plans for not packing a lot of stuff.
Then we found out the weather in Berlin is cold. As in snowy and dreary and cold. This will be my third time in Berlin and I have never seen snow there. Cold, yes. But no snow. I am not prepared for this. This means I have to bring more clothes to keep me (and junior) warm. This also means I had to head to Old Navy last night to stock up on some cheap long sleeved maternity shirts. (Which they only had in XXL and XXXL, which I am NOT!). They had one small shirt in a horrible color and one medium shirt in another horrible color. I was forced to buy both of them. Which means, I will be wearing shirts of horrible color, but I will be warm. That is all that matters (I keep telling myself).
We also went to Walgreen’s last night to buy the toiletries in convenient travel sizes. Tell me this, why do the travel sizes cost just as much as the regular sizes? I realize you are paying for the convenience. But that is quite a mark up. We stocked up on baby sized shaving cream, hair care products (of horrible brands and descriptions, but they will fit in the back pack and I’ll be wearing a wool cap), lotions, Q-tips, toothpaste, and anything else made in travel size.
I will be downsizing my make-up bag tonight and only taking the essentials. As well as only one brush and my travel hair dryer that works in Europe (but doesn’t really work well). Believe me when I say you pack as light as possible when you have to carry your gear on your back. It sucks (but it really the only way to travel in Europe).
I took my doctors advice and bought some support hose for the plane rides. Maybe they will help with the walking and the cold also. I was also cleared by the doctor to take some Tylenol PM. She said it was okay to take it at any point during the pregnancy. Good to know.
I divvied up all of my daily vitamins. And hope they don’t get lost at some point, because I am not sure how to say “folic acid” in either German or French.
And while I did all of this, what was The King doing? Cleaning the bathroom, so that I didn’t have to. All praise The King. He rules.
(but he’d better start packing up his stuff when he gets home tonight!)
Vacation
janet
said,
November 22, 2005 at 10:26 am
you sound very prepared. I am sure the trip will be GREAT! can’t wait to hear updates from the road. little baby boy will be a world traveler before he is even born — now that’s pretty amazing!
Avorie
said,
November 22, 2005 at 10:48 am
I vote for the King to carry the backpack of his pregnant wife. If he won’t go for it, then explain how he should carry the toiletries and heavy stuff in his pack because you had to make room for bigger and more bulky clothes to accomodate his baby.
Ashley
said,
November 22, 2005 at 11:44 am
you’re pretty much cracking me up.
when do you get home? because i can’t handle not having you to bug at work. really.
the end.
Erika
said,
November 22, 2005 at 11:48 am
Damn Old Navy!
Rude Cactus
said,
November 22, 2005 at 12:13 pm
Have a wonderful time!! Enjoy the trip!
Katja
said,
November 22, 2005 at 12:54 pm
Hope you’ll have a great trip. And you are so right to pack warm clothes. It is freezing here. Oh, and you can always check out the H&M Stores (there are LOTS in Berlin) for maternity clothes. They have a great selection. And in case you really need to boy folic acid, it is called Folsäure (thank you LEO http://dict.leo.org/).
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Nap Queen
said,
November 22, 2005 at 1:02 pm
You sound like you’re all set! I remember we went to Europe for three weeks when I was about 11. We could only take what we could carry. Needless to say, in all the slides (yes slides), my sister and I are wearing the same 4 wrinkly outfits that we washed out in sinks along the way. Have tons of fun!!!
Ticket 4 Two
said,
November 22, 2005 at 8:10 pm
Have such a great time Issy! Look forward to hearing about it all. To bad stupid old navy didn’t pull through for ya. I’ll have to have a “talk” with her.
Sara
said,
November 22, 2005 at 11:04 pm
Have a great trip! Can’t wait to see the pictures and hear stories. Even in your shirts of horrible colors, you’ll still look preganant-cute. Yeah!
for Joke!
said,
November 23, 2005 at 3:01 am
Those travel sized thingies suck you in!!! Don’t fall for it!!!
BTW, its the Wednesday Advice Smackdown today on amalah today - do you think she’ll take our question???
Jenna
said,
November 23, 2005 at 5:35 am
I hope you have a great time…can’t wait to hear how it was!!
TB
said,
November 23, 2005 at 8:36 am
Have a wonderful trip and a wonderful Thanksgiving. Don’t forget to stop and take a nap if you need to. Everyone will understand.