Packing up and leaving your house in perfect shape before you leave is a must in the Cook household (although, some of us are more intense about this than others). I was left alone in an immaculate house and ready to go to bed to sleep for as long as I can when I hear a dreaded dripping noise from inside the house. It had been raining for two days now and the rain caused a slow drip from under the dining room window. I pulled off the trim just as the rain was stopping and dried everything up and called my sister with a contractor friend. If I had heard anymore rain tonight, I knew I would be busy cleaning up a mess...and not sleeping.
For those of you who know me well, know that I have odd dreams. If I ever have a nightmare, it is usually about my students not behaving, or arriving at the airport for a big trip and not having everything that I need...usually my passport. The other day I drove two good friends of mine to the airport and giggled to myself about the back and forth questions such as, "Did you remember to pack ______?" My first thought was that this was humourous and the second was that I had been there before.
I tell you this, because I sat waiting for about 40 minutes for my sister to arrive to pick me up to take me to the airport. Slightly anxious and waiting to get started. The moment she walks in, that is when my brain realized that I hadn't printed my passport copies and everything was unplugged. I got that sorted. We are in the car backing out of the driveway when I realize that I had forgotten my luggage strap. She pulls back in and I run up to grab it from where I left it. That should be it, right? No. As my plane is landing at Gatwick through an ominous-looking grey cloud, I realize that I haven't packed a single thing to shield me from rain for 9 days in the UK. It looks like if I do meet with some British rain, it will be a great opportunity to buy a umbrella souvenir for myself. Not my best packing job.
Liz