Packin' it in

We are officially packed. Our checked luggage will consist of: one wheelie suitcase containing, for the adult: two pairs of pants, two skirts, assorted matching tops, a hairdryer and three pairs of adult shoes and for the child: 11 separate changes of clothes, three pairs of pjs, a fleece jacket and four pairs of shoes; and a large Barney-purple duffel bag with an inflatable air mattress (have I mentioned there's only one bedroom in our Kosovo apartment?), boxes of fruit snacks, assorted eye and hair care products and fresh towels. Not bad, I think, for two months in a foreign land with all kinds of activities - and weather conditions - awaiting us. Then I see the pile that I'm attempting to carry on: purse, overnight bag, diaper bag, D's backpack, umbrella stroller. I'm carrying a small electronics department in the overnight bag: iPod, PVD (for D), two cases of DVDs, adapters, batteries, headphones, and my new toy, Altec Lansing's inMotion Portable Speakers for the iPod. These babies ROCK. About the size and weight of a paperback, they pump out great sound, run on AC or DC, and trickle charge the 'Pod. Love it. I almost hope they make me turn them on during the security check - rest assured I'll have my Wang Chung ready to play!

Not that I wish to run afoul of the good folk at the TSA. Especially after my minor brush with the law at Target the other day. I was buying a couple types of medicine containing pseudophedrine, ignorant of a recently passed law limiting such purchases to two per customer per transaction. Seems some people cook the medicine with battery acid to create a drug. Now, I don't have a clue what drug this would create. But it probably didn't help my case that I was also buying several packs of AA batteries in preparation for our trip. I actually had to explain to a manager why I had so much medicine (D has a cold and we're traveling and some friends in Kosovo asked me to bring over some allergy medicine... really!) and the batteries were extras for the aforementioned electronic gear. Too bad I didn't have my overnight bag with me to actually show him the goods. Anyway, apparently they trusted me not to go home and mix my PediaCare with my double-As, because they let me purchase the surplus bottles in a separate cash transaction. Everything takes two tries these days.

So now I just have minor cleaning up to do around the house. Take out the trash. Panic at the last minute and stuff as many diapers as I can into the outer pockets of the suitcase. And of course watch Lost at 8:00. If you're thinking of calling, kindly wait until 9.

All for now!