Countdown to Vega$!!! I am so not in the mood to work - I want vacation to start NOW. I’m in that prep-stage when, though it’s too soon to pack my luggage, I am deciding what I want to bring so I have time to locate various items, make sure my clothing choices are laundered, etc. It is at this time that I also inventory my supplies, as a prerequisite to any trip is an outing to Target to buy tiny travel-sized items like deodorant, toothpaste, contact-lens solution. I usually just refill the tiny bottles of shampoo and mouthwash from my larger everyday jugs but I love the tiny sizes; depending on where we’re going/what they have, I might buy other things like a tiny case of 10 wet-wipes or tissues or something.

I don’t know why (well, because I’m me, that’s why) but whenever I travel, I obsess about forgetting some necessity. I count out a pair of underpants for each day, plan on taking two extra and decide four is better. I make endless lists of beauty and hygiene products, I wonder how many different shades of eye shadow I'm likely to need in the course of a week, I wonder if I’ll need extra Q-tips or will 30 be enough, I make sure to have at least 2 safety pins, 2 hair elastics and several cotton balls in my makeup bag - I have no idea why. I mean, everywhere I go on vacation is a big resort, a large city or a major travel destination. They are 100% likely to have grocery stores, drug stores and department stores so if I forget anything, it is easily and inexpensively replaced. But to watch me plan, you’d think I was going on a six-week safari to deepest, darkest Kenya and that if I forget my toothbrush, I’ll be reduced to performing dental hygiene with a frayed twig.