I blame my parents...

First of all, I am considering revoking Keith's blog-writing priviledges. Apparently we need some ground rules about tattling. :) As for the rest...

Years ago in my childhood, preparation for family trips included not only packing every possible item that we might need, but also cleaning the house from top to bottom so that it would be clean when you came home. I thoroughly disliked this tradition, and yet yesterday I found myself scrubbing the stovetop and washing every single piece of laundry in sight as well as other random tasks around the house. Yeesh. So for my present hyperactive, attention deficit state I blame my mother. The tendancy to speed, which I have mostly subdued, has clearly been inherited from my father so maybe I should just forward this ticket to him!

Anyways, I am now about 98% packed and ready to go. The last bit will happen tomorrow morning; we leave Lethbridge by 9am. Yay!

Keith is packed and ready to go!

As the title states, Keith is packed and ready to go to London tomorrow! Its amazing! I don't know which is more expensive: going on the actual trip, or buying the things you need for the trip. We need to get out of Canada quick before it costs us more money.

On a less serious side, Jenn got her first photo radar ticket in the mail today. Nice gift from the City of Lethbridge before we go. #&%@ city !!! Oh well, what do you do? The next posting from me will be from London. One more sleep!!

The house is clean - let's pack!

One would think that this being my fifth trip to Europe and all I'd know how to pack. I'm trying to fit everything into a smaller suitcase than ever before. That being said, it is expandable. Go Swiss Army luggage! Seeing as we're limited to 20kg on the way over and one intercontinental flight where we're limited to 15kg (I think we'll be paying extra), this is harder than ever.

We're also trying to pack on the sly so as not to clue in our needy cat who seems to not like our leaving him behind ever. Then again, he'd probably think he fits in with all the cat stuff in the Egypt section at the British Museum. They thought cats were devine ... a concept cats remember to this day! Back to packing!

To pack or not to pack?

I am finally taking a serious look at packing today; especially as to what I can and cannot take in my carry-on bag. So far as I understand it, I can take as many 100mL (or smaller) bottles of liquid, gel or aerosol as I can fit into a sealed 1L plastic bag (which is not the large ziploc, but the medium one). I don't think that it will be a problem as we will each have a checked bag that we can put whatever else we might need in. Aside from the liquid restrictions though, I have to figure out what else warrants inclusion in my carry-on: books (of course!) snack foods (can I take a bag of soya nuts?), some toiletries, camera, ipod, and I haven't decided what else yet. Any suggestions from wise travellers?

Thoughts from Keith

Well, I thought I should contribute a posting as well. Hopefully this blog will be more entertaining and enjoyable than my last one. After all, who really wants to read about educational differentiation using technology? This blog promises travel updates, pictures, history lessons (a la Jenn of course), and a myriad of interesting tidbits about our next five weeks hopping around Europe. Four more days. That's ten more eats, four sleeps, and a pile of packing and house cleaning to do!!

Countdown

We are counting down the days until we leave for Europe (4!!) and since I can't convince everyone to sign up for Facebook I will endeavor to keep my family and friends updated on our whereabouts through this blog. Hopefully this works!