Holy Moly! 2 More Days...

Even as I sit here and type this blog entry I can feel my pulse quicken with anticipation for "D-Day", which is on Saturday.

I've got everything under control at work and it's a great feeling. I will be able to walk out the office door at 4:30pm and not look back for 4 weeks!

I have just a few things to confirm, like the airport shuttle pick up for Saturday and call the bank to let them know I will be using my visa card in foreign countries. I did this for most of my cards earlier this week, but one card will only place the security notice on the card 24 to 48 hours before my departure...go figure!

Tropical Storm Ernesto will be swinging through here this afternoon sometime. But it looks like we will only get some rain and wind. It's been very grey and overcast all morning. The schools even closed today because of the impending storm, so the commute to work was fast! I made it to the office in 25 minutes! Since I got to work early maybe that's why I have all my ducks in a row now. I love the feeling of having everything tied up and taken care of!

Well tomorrow will be my last blog entry before my trip begins!

3 more days...can you believe it????

I can hardly compose myself! I am just about ready to jump out of my skin I want to start my vacation so badly.

It looks like Tropical Storm Ernesto will blow by here on Thursday with just some major wind and rain, but it will not be a hurricane and we will not have to evacuate...Thank God!

I am anxiously waiting for 4pm today which is when I will get all the information I need to finish up the last work item I have to complete before vacation unless something pops up at the (truly) last minute...let's pray that doesn't happen! But I am not anticipating anything at this point.

I am so psyched that I took Friday off! I can't wait to just have a day to chill out before I have to be "in transit" for 24 hours. But then there is a pot of gold at the end of the transit day rainbow and that pot of gold is Prague. As I have been monitoring the weather forecast for Prague my hopes are getting a bit dampened by the soggy weather that is predicted there, but I don't really care if it will be raining because I will be in Prague...YIPEEEE!!! :)

Let's see on Friday my game plan is to hit the gym and put in a really good workout since I will be cooped up in plane seats for much of the day on Saturday! Then finish any last minute laundry and packing, pull together my computer (it's a laptop) and a few other essential items to bring to my mom for safe keeping, have lunch with mom on Friday, pick up CL, go to dinner and back to my house for a good night's sleep.

Saturday will be an early morning since I've scheduled the airport shuttle to pick us up at 6am, so I want to try and at least get a half way decent night's sleep on Friday, but I am sure I will feel like a child on Christmas Eve and be so excited that sleep may not come easily on Friday night! But that's not something to worry about!

I can hardly believe the big "D-Day" (aka: Departure Day) is here!

4 More Days...

until my vacation commences! That is if "Ernesto" doesn't come barrelling through the low country rending us unable to get out of the airport!

The bright side is the forecast is calling for Ernesto to only be a tropical storm by the time it comes near us on Thursday. So we will get pummelled with rain on Thursday but should be "dried out" by Saturday! Let's keep our fingers crossed that is what will happen.

And I'm happy to report my regiment of Benadryl and Hydrocortizone cream seems to be working on my fire ant bites and they are not nearly as swollen as they were a couple days ago.

Work has been amazingly quiet the last 2 days...Shhhhh, I better not say anything more and jinx myself.

So, bascially I am ready and "rarin' to go"! :)

Why do these things happen to me???

So it is 5 days before I leave for my trip and this past weekend I was biten by fire ants while trimming the shrubs in my front yard, a Delta Connection plane crashes in Kentucky and Hurricane Ernesto is pummeling Cuba right now!

Just call me Calamity Jane!

OK, about the fire ants. Each day as I go in and out of the house I kept looking at the various shrubs in my front lawn thinking, but more like wondering, when my lawn guy will trim the shrubs?

Finally after weeks of looking at the ever growing limbs and leaves I decide that I cannot go on vacation with the shrubs looking the way they do now, because I would return in a month to a front yard that will look like the jungles of Borneo!

On Friday I borrowed my mom's electric hedge trimmer with the intent to do some "bush wacking" on Saturday. But I got home a little early on Friday evening and decided to do it then. I thought, it's not that much and it's not sunny out so "let's do it now". While I was trimming away I was working up quite a sweat and when I finally got to the last shrub I was trimming I clearly stepped on a mound of fire ants. Luckily I noticed it early and didn't have a ton of ants crawling all over me, but I did have enough and it resulted in several bites around my ankles, a couple on my arms and one on my thigh. Needless to say they itched and burned. I tried using Benadryl gel but that didn't really help, so by Sunday I was taking Benadryl capsules and smearing hydrocortisone cream on the bites. Thankfully when I woke up this moring the swelling has gone down considerably and they should be cleared up by the time I leave for my trip...God willing! :)

Then on Sunday morning as I steam along on the cardio machines at the gym the picture on the TV screen catches my eye, so I tune into CNN. It appears that a Delta Connection flight (run by Comair), the same Delta subsidiary that I will be flying out of Savannah on Saturday, that was leaving a Kentucky airport crashed and 49 of the 50 passengers were dead...what a great way to start my workout! Apparently by some freak occurrence the pilots used the wrong runway that was too short for the plane and it was never even able to take off, it just crashed at the end of the runway. I'm trying to remain calm about this and as a co-worker said this type of plane accident only happens every few years, so given the odds, I should be ok to fly on Saturday...way to stay positive! :)

And now there is Ernesto! I have been hearing about this storm for the last few days, but it wasn't something I was concerned about until this morning. During a staff meeting it was brought up that there is going to be alot of rain on Thursday and Friday and the speculation there might be an evacutation. Living in the lowcountry I don't take the term evacuation lightly. But I am remaining calm and keeping updated on the storm track. To me it looks like Florida is going to get the brunt of the storm and (hopefully) by the time it makes it's way close to Hilton Head it will be just a lot of rain and wind and by Saturday it will have moved up into Virginia and out to sea...I can only hope and pray! But I will keep my eye on this one!

So all this is happening and it is just 5 days before I leave for my trip! I will adopt the postal service slogan...No wind, No rain, No "freakin' storm" will keep me from my vacation! OK, so maybe that's not exactly the postal service slogan, but you get my drift!

Come hell or high water (no pun intended) I will be going on vacation in 5 more days!

One Week from Today....

I will be flying the "friendly skies" to Prague!!!!!!!

Of course I have to first stop in Atlanta, and New York, but this time next week I will be well on my way.

I met up with CL today at Starbucks and talked about the trip, luggage, airport/flight connections and just about everything about the logisitcs of getting to Prague. CL seems a bit nervous with the connections, we have at least 2 hours in each place, but now with the new security measures 2 hours might just be cutting it close, but with checked bags hopefully that will help, at least with our luggage, who's to say about other passengers!

7 DAYS to GO!!! :)

8 Days From Today....

I will be off from work and finishing up the last of any little details that need to be taken care of before my trip begins on Saturday.

I'm starting to re-think the whole going on "Prague time" scenario after a friend pointed out that even if I do get up at 3am the day before I leave to try and adjust my body clock, it will be pitch dark outside, and my mind might be saying it's 9am in Prague, but my body will be telling me it's 3am in Bluffton! :)

So, I got to thinking about how realistic is it to think I will be in bed at 6 or 7pm the night before I leave? Probably not very realistic. And I will have to get up early on Saturday, our departure day since the airport shuttle is picking us up at 6am and there will be very last minute stuff to do at the house (wash any dishes and maybe throw a load of towels in the laundry).

Having this brought to light (I can see the light bulb above my head!) I think maybe if I just get up at 5am on Friday, head right to the gym, workout, get my coffee, go about the day doing all the pre-trip stuff and get a good night's sleep, so I can get up early for the 6am airport shuttle on Saturday I might still be able to fight jet lag when I get to Prague.

I remember last year in Ireland I didn't feel too bad from jet lag (although I did end up losing my voice for a couple of days! But that's not jet lag related). Sure the first day there I was getting tired by the late afternoon and I did go to sleep early that first night. But I slept like a log and felt great the next day. It's probably more the jet lag when I come home that will really suck the wind out of me, and having to face going back to work, but I won't think about that now since the vacation hasn't even started yet! :)

Here's to the last pre-trip weekend full of packing and cleaning the house! There's nothing better than coming back from vacation to a clean house!

The countdown continues........It's almost here!

T minus 9 days and counting!

One week from today will be my last day of work, then I have one day to pull myself together before boarding a plane (well several planes) for my much anticipated, much planned, much deserved vacation!

And one more time with feeling......YIPEEEEEEEEE!

Can I tell you how much I wish today was the day I was finishing up work and leaving for vacation? It's enourmous. I know I have been rambling on and on for months about this trip, but now that it is truly within a hands grasp I can taste it! I can't wait to get to the airport because then it will feel real, I will truly be taking the trip and not just planning it.

And silly as it may sound I am really looking forward to that first day we land in Prague. Once we get to the hotel and dump our bags in the storage closet I plan to head to the Ebel Coffee House that I have dug up through my research and plan to have a nice big cappucino. I will probably need a double venti just to keep me awake and moving around that first day, but I don't care...bring on the caffeinne! And the sights of Prague!

What Happens When You Haven't Taken Any Time Off in 9 Months?

...You become obsessed with going on vacation!! That's me right now.

The last time I went away for any length of time the result was starting this blog. That was in November 2005 over the Thanksgiving holiday when I went to visit friends in Tucson and the infamous return home journey. Now here I sit 9 months later with "bated breath" in great anticipation for my next adventure, which starts in just 10 days.

I'm sure the fact that I have been planning this Central Europe trip since October 2005 might have a little to do with my excitement to get this trip started! Plus the last few days at work have been going so smoothly part of me can't help but think, will it be this easy next week when I am ready to walk out the office door or will something last minute pop up that will keep me at the office longer than I wish to be? I think I am succeeding at getting all my ducks in a row and all the neck, back and shoulder pain I was having the last few days seem to be disappearing which I will take to mean that I am slowly releasing the work stress that I have been heaping upon myself for the last few weeks!

As the D-Day (aka "Departure Day") gets closer I am feeling a mix of emotions. I feel like I really need this vacation, and I deserve this vacation after all my hard work the past 9 months. But it's also hard for me to let go of my work and put my trust in a co-worker to do my stuff for me. I'm sure I will get over that feeling once I leave the office, finish packing and lock my front door when the airport shuttle arrives to whisk me to the airport.

But right now, 10 days before leaving I am feeling anxious and excited all rolled into one person. Let's hope I don't drive myself crazy! :)

Here's to 10 more days!

Only 12 more days!

Vacation Day is getting nearer!

I spent some time this weekend preparing for packing duty. Some stuff is already in the suitcase, some is on the guest room bed waiting to "jump in" and a few other things will just have to wait until the night before departure to be packed!

With the change in what the airlines are allowing to be brought into the airplane cabin, no liquids! I had to "re-think" how some stuff will be packed and will now have to check a bag, but that's how it goes. I'm still using the 21" roll-aboard bag, but will have to check it (with my toiletries in the checked bag) and put some stuff in my carry-on back pack that I don't normally put in that.

After today's pre-packing episode, I've eliminated a few more things, a couple shirts, a pair of pants and my Teva sandals will not be coming with me. My packing mantra is if I need it and didn't bring it, I can buy it there...I'm not going to a third world country, I will be able to find things if I need them! :)

2 Weeks from TODAY!

Two weeks from today will be my last day of work for a month....ahhhhh...I can't wait!

As I've said in other posts I'm trying to get all my work in order. I'm doing my best to take the next 2 weeks one day at a time and do whatever I can to not have my work load dumped on someone who will curse me out while I am gone.

I'm still chanting my mantra every day to help cope with feeling less stressful. But if I know myself the way I do, when I walk out the door to start my vacation I will not look back, let's pray that I don't get any frantic emails while I am away!

So it looks like this weekend will be time to start my actual packing procedures. I'm sure I will pack and re-pack several times before getting the perfect packed suitcase! :)

Things are looking good....

On the work front that is! I know it may appear I am obsessed with work at the moment, but since I'm going to be out of the office for 4 weeks, I want to have everything in order and I think things are going to be fine.

I had a meeting today with the grant people from the state and all looks good will my progress on that so far and I will have the loose ends of this tied up or handed off before I leave the office on August 31st.

The other local grant application I am working on is almost complete, just a few finishing touches to put on it this week and it will be ready way before my personal deadline which is August 31st but the actual deadline is a few days after I return to the office, so all is A-OK with that too.

I'm feeling pretty good...let's hope this feeling continues! I want to walk out of the office on August 31st and not think about work until I walk back in on October 2nd!

Here's to hoping I can accomplish that!

19 Days and Ready For It To Begin!

I am deathly afraid that hell is going to break loose at work in the next 3 weeks and I will be a wreck trying to accomplish everything before I leave for vacation!

"Breath In, Breath Out, Breath In, Breath Out"

I am desparetly trying to keep up this mantra! Here is the "rub", last week and even today have been relatively "smooth sailing" on the work front. But starting tomorrow I have several items that co-workers were asked to submit to me so that I can prepare for things that will be occuring in my absence. So, the next 3 weeks (minus 2 days) are going to be busy for me, at least I am anticipating them to be busy, if everyone gets their stuff to me and I can start working on what needs to be done! But I need to step back and realize 3 weeks is a good amount of time to get things in order, and I've prepared myself to accept the fact that I may have to come in over the next 2 weekends to finish up any loose ends...as long as my packing is taken care of! :)

As I sit here with my fingers flying across the keyboard, I am starting to calm down and realize each item on my work "to do" list can be handled and I shouldn't fret over it. I will get everything done, I always get done what I need to get done.

So as the title of this blog entry states..."I am Ready for this vacation to begin"!

Enough about work! More about the trip planning. I did something for the first time with this trip.

During all the research I did for this trip I began to collect information from various sources such as the Fodor's website, the Rick Steves website, contact with people who have traveled to the places I will be going and just general travel/tourist agency websites and pasted them into a word document. Then I got to thinking that even though I have a couple good guidebooks to use, this information I've collected will be good to have with me on the trip. So, I formated the information, but didn't do any "big time" editiing and created my own "Travel Tips" booklet with interesting bits and pieces, some restaurant recommendations and site seeing recommendations and put together a snappy little cover using clip art. I printed off 2 copies, one for me and one for CL and had them each spiral bound and plastic covers put on them. Now I have an easy reference for the information, especially the restaurant stuff since the guidebooks I have don't offer a lot in the category!

I know some people will think I've gone overboard, but hey, it's my trip I can do what I want. I gave CL her copy yesterday and she seemed cool with it. I told her she didn't have to bring it along on the trip with her since I would bring mine, but I thought it would just be a nice thing to do.

Using this "tips" booklet will be a first for me, and I'll see how it goes and maybe do it again on future trips, who knows, some day it could turn into a travel guide series...I could be the next Rick Steves! :) And I'm sure if I like using it, I will have lots of "glitches" to work out. This will be a test run to see what changes or improvements need to me to the "tips" booklet.

I am ready to "Hit the Road"! :)

24 More Days Until Departure!

And the countdown continues!

I have started to check and double check my travel arrangements. I contacted via email the Sobe owner we are staying with in Dubrovnik about a month ago and he will be able to pick us up at the ferry port and take us to the Sobe in Old Town! Oh, a Sobe in Croatia is like a B&B without the second "B" (breakfast)! :) So I will just need to send a re-confirmation email to him right before we leave.

A day or 2 before we leave I need to call the Apartment owner in Hvar to arrange the time and place to pick up the apartment keys and give her the final payment. I'm a bit hesitant to call Croatia since I don't speak Croatian, but the agency we booked the apartment with has said the owner speaks excellent English...let's hope so!

I still have to book the airport shuttle for taking us to and from the Savannah Airport and will do that this week.

Three or four days before departure I will call the bank and credit card companies to let their security departments know I will be traveling abroad and which countries I will be in so they can flag my accounts.

I also have to stop mail and newspaper deliveries, but like the bank only need to do that 3 or 4 days in advance.

So I can't really think of anything else that needs to be taken care of, except of course to pack my bags and clean the house, but I don't want to do this too early, afterall there is still just over 3 weeks before we leave.

I am getting more and more excited by the minute, but also trying to remain calm and confident that things at work won't "blow up" while I'm gone. I'm sure everything will be fine and I just need to leave as much direction as possible on what I'm working on so if anything does pop up "the powers that be" can handle it without me! And I want to be able to walk out of work on August 31st and not look back! I want to only think about my vacation after walking out the door, which I think I can manage!

I can hardly believe my adventure is right around the corner! I have been anticipating and planning this trip for so long! I can't wait for all the planning to become reality and experience this amazing adventure I have planned!

YIPEE....32 DAYS!

Have I mentioned lately that I am soooooo ready for my vacation! :)

In about one month I will be finishing any last minute packing and probably be so excited that I won't be able to sleep. Just like a little kid on Christmas Eve waiting the arrival of Santa. Except I will be waiting the arrival of the Airport Shuttle!

I had coffee with my friend Eddye today and she was kind enough to bring a shopping bag full of LeSport Sac shoulder bags for me to choose from to take on my trip. I found a great one, in navy blue, which will match my beige and navy jacket and a la my new suitcase and backpack it has a zipper that when unzipped gives more room. What I like about the LeSport Sac is that I can smush it into my carry-on bag/backpack and pull it out to use after I get off the plane so I have an extra bag, but only 2 carry-ons.

Ok, enough about bags...here's to only 32 more days!