How to get ready for a vacation you thought was a week away...

***

...but which really starts tomorrow.

My mother is suffering from (what we hope is a somewhat mild form of) senile dementia, and my greatest fear is that I, too, will develop this as I get older. I'm guessing this kind of thing may be inherited, and the fact that I'm single and live alone is not reassuring when I dwell on what's to become of me in my later years. So I try not to dwell on that too often. Last weekend's panicked realization that, no, my vacation doesn't start on the 26th, but rather the 19th (!!!), didn't help matters in that department.

So, anyway, I've had about a day and a half to get my act together to leave town for an entire week. It's a whole different ball game when leaving for a business trip for just 3 or 4 days. I can pack a suitcase for work in about 2 minutes. Trying to figure out what to bring on a week-long beach vacation is always a challenge, and I always bring way too much. I'm sure this time will be no different. Throw in the additional complexity of needing to provide groceries, bedding and towels, and well, it's almost too much for my feeble brain.

But before I can even get to the suitcase packing, I've had about a thousand other things to do today. And I'm nothing if not a multi-tasker.

Case in point - here's what I've done so far today:

1. Waited for pest control people to call back. They never did.
2. Threw in another load of laundry.
3. Fiddled with the finances - this check goes in this account. That check goes in that account.
4. Had a 90-minute work-related call with coworker L.
5. Picked up my prescription at CVS.
6. Shopped for pesticidal ant chalk at my local asian market; (No, they're law-abiding and don't carry the FDA-banned substance. But I'm still grateful to Laurie for suggesting it. I'll be searching for it in all of my travels from now on. It'll be my new personal quest...).
7. Bought two cans of RAID instead.
8. Sprayed entire foundation of house with RAID.
9. Called the vet - will they refill my cats' flea Rx? Yes, they will - I can pick it up at 5.
10. Called the cat sitter - can she take care of my cats this week while I'm away? Yes, she can, but she must come over to meet them and have me fill out paperwork. Paperwork? She's coming over to my filthy house, today?
11. Panicked over filthy house.
12. Performed a very hasty & panicked superficial cleaning of filthy house. Dripping with sweat by the end.
13. Showered.
14. Had a meet & greet with the cat sitter. She's very cool. This should work out well. She doesn't seem to notice (or is too polite to cringe at) my filthy house.
15. Jumped in car, dropped off various & sundry checks at the post office's mailbox.
    
16. Swung by the vet's, picked up cats' flea medicine.
17. Drove in rush hour traffic over to parents' house to pick up queen-size sheets to take to beach, since I own none. (My own bed is my mom's antique ¾ sleigh bed - wider than a twin, narrower than a double).
18. Chatted with parents as they eat dinner. Convinced them to go to my brother's lakehouse for the weekend after all. (They'd previously bowed out for questionable reasons).
19. Left mom & dad's, drove back towards home, stopped at Food Lion to pick up a few "necessities" for home and beach. A full cart and $150 later, I drove home.
20. Unloaded car.
21. Ate dinner.
22. Talked to sister-in-law (wife of brother w/ lakehouse) on phone, who thanks me for convincing parents to come to lakehouse this weekend.
23. Collapsed on couch and watched "I Heart Huckabees". Cute indy movie, even though Jude Law (whom I despise) is in it. Mark Wahlberg's presence almost makes up for that fact.
24. More laundry.
25. Sat here, and wrote this post.
26. Realized what else is left to do.

What's left to do:

• Post pictures from Wednesday's rail travels & blog about latest yarn excursion.
• Decide what knitting projects & paraphernalia to bring.
• Finish flip-flop sock that is to be part of birthday gift for SIL at the beach.
• Take pictures of FO for later blogging, before gifting it to SIL.
• Pack.
• Shower.
• Leave out enough food & water for cats to last thru Tuesday when cat sitter arrives.
• Close up house.
• Gas up car.
• Hit the highway.

Can I get all that done before noon? We shall see....


P.S. Thanks to everyone for the ant remedy suggestions. I've not yet been able to find the Taro (or Terro - not sure which spelling is correct?), nor the chinese ant chalk, and Pestmasters never called me back, but miracle of miracles, the ants up and disappeared overnight, somehow. I doubt they're gone for good, though, so I'll keep up the good fight. I'm going to use Laurie's suggestion of putting the cat food bowls in a water-filled tray that will act as a moat. Perhaps that'll keep the dang things at bay!

Tomorrow, if all goes well -- pictures!

***