The sun is over the yardarm somewhere, right?!?

Okay, so I spent about 5 hours in the motorhome today packing (or unpacking things packed at the house, as the case may be) for the winter in Arizona. And I just have to say, I blame my parents for my packing skills. I’ve somehow got this idea that I’m entering the Rub al-Khali on every single trip; I’ve got enough clothes for the next year, food to feed an army, cases of water, refills of every medication under the sun, etc., etc. (In hindsight, I probably WOULD have made a very good geologist with the USGS in Saudi Arabia….) Christ. I’m going to ARIZONA. Even our ‘man-servant’ (no better way to describe him, as he does EVERYTHING, is there is any crisis, and is just a down-right fantastic guy) commented today, “Uh, Don’t they have grocery stores in Arizona?” Yeah. Whatever. Shutup. And Hell, I don’t know. I mean, they don’t even do the daylight savings time thing. For all I know, I’m really going to a recently annexed part of Mexico.

Of course, my parents are likely saying “But dear, we also taught you to travel across the Western Hemisphere with nothing but your passport, your airline travel ID (term pass), an American Express card, a toothbrush and a clean set of underwear. (And a TWA schedule so you could call and book yourself on the next flight going whichever direction you desired.)” Because you never knew if you were going to end up in the same time zone as your real luggage or not. (And often it didn’t matter. If the luggage didn’t show up, you bought what you needed, and kept trying to get to your destination.)

So, I’m caught between trying to pack everything into my house on wheels that I can (and we’ve got skis (and everything that goes with that – clothes, boots, poles, helmets, etc., etc.), golf clubs (and all that entails), tennis rackets, a really cool Weber BBQ, coolers, cases of water, bicycles (and spare wheels, all of which will be with the Saturn Vue that we tow behind the motorhome), cycling clothes for all weather conditions, etc.), and thinking that if we don’t have it, we are ONLY going to Arizona, and can get it there.

I’m erring on the Rub al-Khali mindset, but am relying on the American Express-as-backup-plan, as well. Luz (my house keeper, body servant, lifter-of-heavy-things, and Organizer-of-All-Things), and I spent 5 hours today organizing the space in the motorhome, getting things loaded, and getting ready for the (mostly) final assault tomorrow. Tomorrow the rest of the clothes, the food, and the pet things will all go in and get stowed. Luz has been invaluable because, well, as my family can well attest, my organizational skills, are sub-par at best, and non-existent, if we are going to be honest. Luz takes all my stuff that has been jammed into cupboards, and makes it so that you can a) actually get to it, and b) put it back where it belongs. (I blame this failing on my mother. I have a psychiatrist, so I get to blame things on my mother. So there! *grin. Oh, and just so you don’t take this too seriously, Mom, my psychiatrist doesn’t really care about things being anyone’s fault – he’s just trying to get me to recognize my failings and make them better – he’s really not a blame guy! )

Tomorrow will see the errand running (more trips to PetCo, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Wally World, the vet, and the liquor store (yes, coals to Newcastle, but we are stopping in Cedar City, UT, to make the trip more bearable, and if we both can’t have a dram of something, when we stop on the first night, well…, just well…).

With any luck, Tuesday will simply be the ‘everything we forgot’ day, and we’ll be able to de-winterize (take the antifreeze out of the pipes) on Wednesday before we leave.

In the meantime? I need a shower, a massage, and some to take the dogs out at 2am and 4am (and 6am, given that I have to be up and moving by 7:30am….).

All I can say is that when we get to Parker, I plan on spending about a week in a lounge chair, conveniently located toward the sun, with a series of fluff-filled novels at hand, and the dogs stowed with the husband.

*grin.

I just want WARM weather. I want to bask in the sun, wear shorts and t-shirts, and lose that pasty-white look (complimented with the dark circles under my eyes) that I have cultivated so well, as of late.