In 36 days we take off for Florida. No, it won’t take 36 days to pack, but starting Monday I’ll begin by collecting stuff in a “staging area” which we’ll take with us. I’ve already gathered quite a bit together in the basement, but it’s nearly time to put it where I can easily “add to it.” That’s the only way I can be sure I’ll include everything.

Our friends, Wayne and Linda, are even more “detailed” than we are about packing. They were renting a trailer to haul furniture down to Florida so they chalked out an outline on their garage floor and placed what they wanted to take so they could be sure it would “fit” in the alloted space. Of course they had a lot of “big stuff.” For us, it’s a bunch of small items but we don’t want to forget anything.

Yesterday I noticed that John’s “bike battery” is in the trailer. With our luck, he’d bring the bike, but forget the battery.

We have lots of stuff to do around here before we take off: the trailer needs to be winterized, the grapes picked and squished, the sprinkler lines need to be blown out, lawn furniture stowed.

I have completed all the stuff like being sure the mail forwarding both directions is set up correctly, cable TV and internet are scheduled to turn on, the newspaper in Florida will be delivered. We have our motel reservations. The only thing left is to shut the Saginaw newspaper delivery off.

Ok, I’ll admit I’m “anal.” I love planning. To me it brings the whole adventure closer. There is nothing I dislike more than feeling I’ve forgotten something which I should have remembered, so it’s important for me to do the advanced preparation.