Before the Vacation...

I am procrastinating again...

Why must we feel the need to clean our homes before leaving for a vacation?  Really must I clean the house for a 3 day trip?  I feel the overwhelming urge to do so many stupid things that I cannot accomplish them all...

I did more research online than necessary, found the perfect place to relax without going too far from home since we only have a short amount of time.  I booked lodging in a beautiful cabin with a view that is indescribable.  Then I started on the making of the lists, as if they will help me organize myself and ease the process...   I have a list of what to pack for each of the three children, my husband, and myself...  I have a list of things we need that I consider toiletries, but that seems to include so much more...  Then there is the list of groceries which are extremely easier to me to just get here and take there seeing as how it is so close and the small towns around the location will probably not have the same stuff we like and will be overpriced in my opinion...  Besides who wants to grocery shop on their vacation?  There is the list of things to have in the car to entertain the kids on the way there, which is probably stupid for a 3 hour drive...  Last but not least is the list of things I have to do before we leave...

Before leaving I must get the dog groomed...  He is covered in cooking oil-LONG story...  I cannot take him to the vet to be boarded covered in cooking oil and I can't seem to get it off him with Dawn...  The cats and the dog are going to be boarded at the vet which makes sense, because the cat and kitten are being declawed during their stay, the kitten is getting fixed, all 3 are due for their vaccinations...

Then I must clean the house from end to end and top to bottom...  What does it matter if the house is spotless while we are away really???  I can picture a burgler appreciating that...  Better yet as we are in tornado alley, perhaps the cleanliness of the house will persuade the storm to avoid our home...

I am convinced that since the pets will not be here I should treat the yard for fleas and to rid ourselves of the ants...   Fighting off the neighbor's fleas is a pain I do not wish to endure, so being prepared for the season helps more than I can say...  It is supposed to rain soon so if I wait til the right moment I won't have to water the yard after treating it...

Tomorrow I am taking the van in for the routine oil change fun and then I have to figure out if I need a new headlight.  One of them is all fogged over which makes the light weird...  I will have to figure out if I just need a new cover or if it is the style where I have to replace the whole unit itself...

I have managed to pack most of the Easter goodies for the kids.  However, I am apparently lacking in technological intelligence...  The Easter Bunny is bringing the kids Sansas and I feel the need to preload them with music...  So far that has been a nightmare, but doing it in the middle of night probably has something to do with that...  Also the  Easter Bunny is bringing them each a Photokinz stuffed animal digital photo frame...  I need to preload the pictures on the things tonight...

This is not looking like a vacation anymore...  I feel like I am moving from one place to another at this point really... 

I know I shouldn't do it all, but the eldest is at his mom's and will be with her for Easter.  So we are accomodating that for him.  All of his packing must be done by me as we are picking him up from his mother's on our way out of town and she won't send anything other than the clothes on his back.  The younger two cannot reasonably pack for themselves...  The 6 year old wants to pack dresses and dolls.  She actually wants to take her entire Barbie collection.  The youngest wants to take EVERYTHING...  My husband of course, is on the rig working...  He will be home late the night before we leave...  I just want to be ready to rock and roll first thing that morning...

Oh and I must not forget to make a list of caches in the area we are visiting...  Most of our trip will be hiking and enjoying the scenic outdoors...  So there is another list to make...

I totally got off of a tangent apparently.... 

Back to the point...  Why on Earth do we feel the overwhelming urge to clean so much and put all this into planning a trip???  I remember the days of just throwing something in a bag and going anywhere on a whim...