It Would Be Marvelous If...

...we were there already.

The kids are all packed. Surprisingly enough, Caleb's & Audrey's stuff only took one big suitcase each, but Julie took 2. I'm going to pack Steve's and my stuff this morning. I told him that I would pack him up, then he could look around and see if I missed anything he wanted to take. I figured that would be easier than trying to get him to pack last night because I had a "to do" list for him.

My list of "to do" things is down to stuff like "sweep & mop." Yesterday I felt like I was going to have a back spasm. Last year when Steve and I went to England, my nervousness expressed itself in a huge back spasm. I couldn't do anything the day before we left. It was awful. But having my mom here is hugely helpful. She helped me pack the kids' stuff. Actually, she sat on the bed and folded the stuff I tossed out of the chests of drawers, then put it in the suitcases.

We have sheets off all the beds and are going to wash all the towels as soon as everybody showers. We're also going to wash all the clothes worn yesterday. No dirty laundry here! We're going to meet the Adams for lunch and pick up the minivan the lab rented for us to drive to Albuquerque. We won't leave until Steve gets home from work tonight.

I think once we leave for Albuquerque, these horrible butterflies will leave my stomach. Yesterday I felt like I was going to be sick for most of the afternoon. I was fine until I went by the bank to pick up some U.K. cash. Somehow that made everything very real and very imminent. But again - having Mom here is helping me feel much calmer.

I'm signing off now. Got kids to feed and stuff to pack! Look for one more post possibly from the hotel either tonight or tomorrow morning.

P.S. We couldn't find Steve's Bible or Caleb's Gameboy yesterday. I kept praying that both would be located. Sure enough, Steve's Bible was at church and Caleb's Gameboy was under his toy box. God is faithful and helps us even with silly things like misplaced Gameboys.