Packity Pack Pack
We’re within twenty-fours hours of our California trip, so it’s that time when every thing you do revolves around getting ready for vacation. Did I remember to pack my swimsuit? Will I need a sweater? What earrings go with this top? Will my prescriptions be refilled in time? Will anything in the apartment rot and/or explode if it’s left alone for two weeks? Do my parents have enough of the kind of rawhide that Sam likes? And so on.
It took John just over an hour to pack. Me? I’m glad I managed to pick out fourteen days’ worth of clothes and only need six pairs of shoes.* Can I get by with just one purse? I was going to go with the medium black one because (a) it’s black, (b) it has pockets, and (c) it can be zipped closed, but one of my outfits is REALLY brown, so maybe I’ll bring the small not-black purse, too. Don’t even get me started on belts.
I’m not sure how much electronic stuff to bring. We’re taking a train, and supposedly there are “very few” outlets in coach class, so it could be a long day and a half. I was about to say “longer than a day and a half usually feels, anyway,” but no, without the soft, distracting glow of the laptop, it will be EXACTLY as long as a day and a half usually feels.
About the train. It’s a compromise, because I hate flying and John hates driving. Neither of us has taken an American train before, so we’ll see how it goes. I’ve heard grumbles about Amtrak in general but no personal horror stories, so I remain optimistic.
I debated not telling y’all about the train beforehand because I feel weird posting that I’ll be somewhere before I get there.** Like maybe some creepy stalker will read my post, then show up there and, I don’t know, look at me. There’s only one passenger train a day through Houston, so it’s not like revealing that I’m getting on a plane.
I take comfort, though, in the fact that the Houston Amtrak station is tiny and impossible to find. Also, our train is completely full, so even if a blog-reading weirdo wanted to book a last-minute ticket so he could sit behind me and smell my hair, he’d be locked out. Take that, weirdos!
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* One of which is a pair of house slippers, and another of which is a backup pair of black sandals in case the cute-but-cheap ones break. So really four pairs. Boo-yah!
** This attitude was firmly impressed on me way back when I started reading blogs, long before I had one of my own. This one lady from Houston mentioned casually that she’d be going out to lunch the next day at a particular restaurant, and I was like dude, I could totally go there and see her. Not that I would, and I don’t know what it would accomplish, but I could. And that’s creepy. So I don’t write posts like that if I can help it.
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I only own one purse (black) and I wear it with brown outfits. Of course, I wouldn’t necessarily advocate getting style advice from me, but I promise you won’t be the only one in the state with that ensemble (and depending on where you are in CA, people don’t care about that sort of thing anyway).
Remember to pack sunglasses? Although whatever you forget, you can probably just pick up at the closest Target.
June 24th, 2008 at 8:45 am
It would take me over 20 minutes to pack; I have elaborate plans [for eventualities]. Adding further comfort: your weird followers* have decreased exponentially since the advent of law school — you’re currently a law student! Did science really lost a great researcher, mathematician? I love that time, 12:34, 12:35. Have you ever experienced train movements? Is there a possibilty of nausea? If so, a pill, before getting in there, could be helpful. I wish you and John a good trip together, Godspeed.
* By writing this comment, I can be definitely qualified as a typical weirdo, huh? I hope you take it as a wave from a stranger, in a train station [shit, this is creepier…].