Countdown

I thought I'd post some of what goes on around here when we are getting ready to sojourn north. Sort of a day-by-day countdown.

Today is going to be busy. Hoo-whee! But since this day hasn't happened yet, I'll tell you what I've done so far.

SO FAR I have:

*Packed all the books.

Books that are coming with us are packed into two suitcases. We use the Sonlight Curriculum for homeschool, which is based on reading excellent books aloud. A LOT of books. Thankfully we only have to bring about half a school year's worth with us, but still. So we have two big rolling suitcases, each half packed with books. I'm bringing very few books that aren't school books.

Books that aren't coming with us are packed into plastic bins or a large, strong plastic bag. We are preparing for monsoon here, so we will leave virtually everything in our house protected by bags or bins.

*Packed all the toys

We are bringing K'nex and small rubber animals, some small cars, playing cards and our Dwarves and Dice game.

We are leaving the Lego. Some larger truck things. The armor. Anything big.

*Sorted, sorted, sorted.

I try to sort things out all the time, so it won't be a big job at the end. I've been taking bags of stuff to recycling. I sort things we will keep from things we won't. Sort the artwork we will keep into folders, the documents we will need versus the documents we will store. All of that pleasant stuff.

*Packed away the toiletries that we won't bring.

This is one thing that plagues me. All those bottles of things we barely use. They are mostly given to us. Often when people leave they have extra bottles of lotions or soaps that they don't want to take with them. I've started saying no much more frequently, unless it's something like shampoo or soap, which we use all the time.

*Ordered some new clothes from the tailor.

This involves buying fabrics, measuring the kids, and drawing out patterns and taking things to be copied. It's work, but fun work.

(I just realized that I might not be communicating much here. Buying fabric= walking around the market to many cloth shops. Each shop has a few fabrics. They might have one strong cotton, but only in turquoise. So I leave to find it in green in another shop. Like that. And then going to the tailor, sitting on the floor with the Nepali guys who work there, drawing out designs, pairing fabrics with things to be copied. Sweltering. It's still fun, though.)

*Worked with the gardener to plant the garden. I hired someone to help with bringing soil, bringing workers to remove the top layer over the whole yard. The beds are in place, the last of the soil will be put in, and today we will go to get the plants. I am hoping everything will be in by the time we leave, so that when we come back it will be to a thriving garden. The veggie beds are ready, but I won't plant in them until October.

I think that's about it.

I'll let you know how today goes!