Well, we're at the airport at a bar until we have to board. Check-in and security wasn't too bad. The ride over was uneventful. We had a snack and now Vicki is searching for a lens cover and Shelden went to find something to read. I guess we have about 2 hours to kill - no matter. We'll figure something out..

8 hours
My technology plan just $hit the bed! I happened to try out the new 512M memory sticks we bought for old Sony digital camera and guess what? They're Memory Stick Pro and our camera is just plain old Memory stick... A mad dash to Walmart ensued.
Pretty much packed~

We leave tonight!
The day is here and the usual bs is going on inside my head-case head.
What if I can't walk as long as everyone else?
What if I can't climb all the steps?
Why did the bug fly up my nose and into my sinus last night?
What is all the coughing and phlegm about?
Why did I nibble my nails down to nothing?
Why didn't I lose weight?
Why didn't I get in shape?
What if Shelden hates it?
Do we really need the TSA lock?
Do we really need the money belts?
Do we really need the bike lock?
Will we have enough money?
What if...? What if...? Why? How? Who? Where?
In 12 hours, I'll be on the plane and the answers won't matter...
I'll just have to be.

2 days
Well, I sure did it this time! This morning - 3:58 am - I went downstairs to use the toilet because our upstairs toilet is having issues. I didn't turn any lights on, as usual, not wanting to disturb anyone.
When I came out of the bathroom and turned off the light, it was REALLY dark. I guess I misjudged the distance to the antique oak chest and slammed into it - foot first. Yeah, the toenail isn't pretty! The one next to the pinky toe sustained most of the damage, specifically, that nail is only staying on because I had a Band-Aid around it for 2 hours. Yeah, it hurts to walk or bend the toe. Yeah, I'm stupid!
But my hair looks good!
2 days.

3 days
Holy cats! We're so close. I am completely freaking because I wasted all those months and didn't exercise so now - I need to lose, alright... realistically, 40 pounds in days. If I cut off my ass and my stomach, I could be really close to my goal weight.
At least my hair is dyed and cut. I was going to get a manicure and fake nails on Thursday morning, but Sue said it would be dumb because if I broke one while carrying luggage in Italy, I'd have no place to get it repaired. I guess she's right.
I've got my technology plan in place because I spent like a month obsessing about not wanting to forget anything from this trip. I watched video from our trip in '95 - my first trip to Italy. I went with Mom and Dad and Neal. I had an amazing time and a lot of great memories were captured on those videos by my dad.
Our first night in Venice, we had to go to dinner late because Mom took a shower (she was obsessed with cleanliness, my mom. She hated to sweat - I think that's where I get it from... Go figure!!) Well, our luggage was delayed after our arrival so mom couldn't get dressed. It was a riot but I remember being angry that we had to wait for her and couldn't explore the city. I'm ashamed of that now... especially since when we finally got done dinner and went out to explore, it was about 9:00 p m and dark and Piazza San Marco was magical - and wasn't one of the orchestras playing the Carmen Suite from the opera of the same name. It brought back so many memories of Saturday afternoons when my grandmother would be ironing and listening to opera on the radio sponsored by Texaco.
3 days...

6 days

Do you think I can lose 50 lbs in 6 days?

7 days
So, a week from today, we leave. Staying focused has been a challenge, but things are getting done and life goes on.

Sue is busily compiling our own unique travel guides filled with airline, hotel, train and sight seeing information. Shelden has been bringing his “Italian for Idiots” phrase book to work and is studying it on his lunch break. Jerry returns from Chicago tonight. Mark is worried about his route. I just went brain dead on the phone trying to answer a technical question.

The excitement continues to build. Checking the weather, it looks like Venice will be in the high 60s and cloudy, if not rainy. That’s ok – there’s plenty to do, but I really hope the outdoor orchestras will be performing in St. Mark’s Square.

11 Days
So after church, Shel and I went to Boscov's to buy a suitcase to replace the one that I'd used for years. Dooner used my old green suitcase when he went to Finland with Viva La Bam last summer. In fact, it figures prominently in that episode when they needed some luggage to surround Phil and April... but that's a whole nother story!
Boscov's had a lot of good luggage half off so I got a pretty good deal AND we got some Eagle's shirts for the new season. We grabbed some grub at the Food Court and headed home with no real plans for the evening. As we drove down our street, Jerry was outside so we stopped and asked what they were up to. "VACATION PRACTICE", he replied.
Vacation practice usually means backing the SUV into the driveway, cranking up the radio, pulling out some beach chairs and sitting around a cooler filled with cold ones. We didn't need Jerry to tell us he had opened a bottle of chianti and was smoking a cigar... we just said "We'll be right over."
We parked the car and headed across the street. Sue joined us and pretty soon we were back to the guide books and pages she'd printed from the Internet. Three bottles of vino rosso later, I got a clear picture of Jerry's Italy. I think I like it!
11 days!

12 days

Here's Sue , Vicki (with magnifying glass) Mark and Jerry on our long weekend down the shore planning our trip. The table is covered with phrase books and guide books, wine bottles, beer bottles and assorted travel videos and liquor bottles. It was truly a wonderful weekend as I mentioned in the previous post with Monday on the beach. And so, we all return to work, energized with the knowledge that are trip is right around the corner.
My co-worker is on vacation and when I get to work on Tuesday, we are preparing, full bore, for a security audit. The every day stuff that he would handle is already out of control as I help prepare the necessary documentation. I have two late nights at work but all goes very well on Thursday and I leave work happily looking forward to sleeping a little later because I have a doctor appointment at 8:15.
I need to get in to my primary physician because my sinuses are in an uproar and I want to take care of them before we leave for Italy. I also have a hair appointment with Vicki at 6 - check out the roots!!!
Well, Friday morning I'm getting ready to leave for the doctor and I get a call from my boss who is in a panic because our phones are giving a fast busy when you dial the main number... not so good for business. I cancel my doctor appointment and head to work after trying some fixes remotely. Things go from bad to worse as we work with our phone system tech and our phone service carrier. Finally a little before 11 am., we find out that our service was turned down due to lack of payment. When I tell that I was fuming, it would be with steam coming out of the top of my head.
Well a payment is made via credit card and slowly, line by line, the phone service comes back. Well - not all of it - just the inbound lines. If this was all we had to deal with, it would have been an easier day. There were CSRs that had to be moved, security swipes that had to be installed, payroll issues to deal with - you name it, it all reared it's ugly head on Friday. And then - the worst thing happenned, one of our co-workers was in effect laid off, but re-hired at our northern facility.
In any case, it became apparent that I wasn't going to make my hair appointment either. After a call to the Board of the Public Utilities Commission, all of our phone service was restored and I left work at 5:15 - only to come to a stand still because of a traffic accident.
Here's my hair: