Mind Over Matter!

We're on the home stretch and the final countdown has begun. Think I could throw a couple more silly phrases into the beginning of this post? Oh, I just thought of another one! I'm leavin' on a jet plane... Okay, now that you're all singing along, I can finish my post. Think of it as backround music, since I haven't figured out how to put it on my blog yet. Now where was I? Oh right, makin' a list, checkin' it twice... I promise, I'm done now. Two more days until we're finally on our way to Haiti. But first, I gotta pack... Not my favorite part of any trip. Here's what I'm up against. The airline we're flying on allows us to each check two suitcases weighing 50lbs each. You would think that wouldn't be such a problem. You would be wrong. Here's a list of what's going into those two suitcases:

64 teddy bears (18" tall looked A LOT smaller in the store)

35 packages of specially formulated cereal (specially formulated to provide a days worth of nutrition to a child should that be the only thing he or she gets to eat that day)

30 little hand held squirty fans

15 packages of sidewalk chalk

5 packages of handy wipes

2 enormous bottles of hand sanitizer

4 packages of woffel balls (I have absolutely no idea how to spell that)

Various other pharmaceutical items

12 diapers

Some really cute clothes for a little one

Here's how it looked before.

I admit, I was way over my head with space issues. Mom to the rescue. She reminded me of these fabulous little inventions called SPACE SAVER BAGS! One jumbo bag (for the bears) later, and this is what we got.

Nate enjoyed vacuuming the air out of the bag. Really enjoyed it. I don't think I've heard him laugh that loud in years!

The duffel bag weighed in at 48lbs, the suitcase I haven't weighed yet, but since I can still lift it, I think I'm still good.

Where's my stuff you ask? How kind of you to be so observant. My belongings with be with me, in my carry on. Now there's an incentive to pack light!

Off I go to Haiti! See you all in a week!