Countdown 7 days (Friday) to prelaunch i.e. Pre-trip

  • Preparing for a triple trip - 4 days in New Orleans for my high school friend Judy's daughter's wedding, then NY to sister Robin for 3 days, then to Portugal for 6 weeks
  • First attempt at clothing selection - pile up the bed with possibilities and start trying on
  • Eliminate too big, too small (this is the larger pile), probably not needed, looks ugly (why do I still own that?)
  • Start matching tops to bottoms to maximize coordination
  • Start selecting clothes to blend in and not look like a tourist
  • Don't bother with the 'not look like a tourist' part - I'll always look like a tourist with my camera and Asics
  • Times up - head to book club luncheon
  • Back from lunch - time to try out new sandals (next attempt at foot comfort - Abeo with high arch and some kind of funny toe support, not the tickle type, from The Walking Store).
  • Back to clothing selection
  • Times up - head to end of the season tennis party for good drinks, good food, fun friends and 3 games of killer pool as in I almost won the first game except I missed a crucial shot then got totally killed in the next 2 (so I played a pool shark, who knew)
  • Back from party in time to relocate piles of clothing so I can go to sleep
  • P.S. Abeo test result: so far my feet really hurt but maybe the sandals need breaking in. Everyone says don't get new shoes just before a trip - I failed in the advice department

Next Day