10 days and counting . . . .

After 9 months of anxious anticipation, we are finally just a little more than a week away from our whirlwind European adventure. Almost everyone we ever talked to about our chance to go to Italy to see Erik’s brother, Ron, get married to his native Italian fiancé, Alessandra, told us what an amazing opportunity it was. Never mind that we will be going during the hot, crowded summer when the value of the US dollar is only 2/3 of the Euro. Never mind that we spent 4 years saving for a honeymoon to Maui last summer and now have to scrounge up an even greater amount for the trip to Italy. GLUP! It only took us 6 months to complete our journey through the grieving process for our savings . . . . denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance . . . before we purchased our plane tickets in March.

We love you, Ron & Alessandra. Truly. We just sometimes find ourselves revisiting the stages of grief as we think back on the whole planning phase. We are both planners and savers who get testy when someone puts us out of our comfort zone. It will be the trip of a lifetime . . . . .

New luggage . . . check

Passports . . . check

Plane tickets . . . check

Hotel reservations . . . check

Museum entrance reservations . . . check

Dog sitter . . . check

Ankle sprain . . . check – ankle sprain! What! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Erik’s brother, Bob, who will be spending the entire 9 days with us (and I mean the three of us will be attached at the hip), got a third degree ankle sprain only a few short weeks ago that has been requiring physical therapy. Luckily, he should be down to just a compression sock and mild stiffness by the time we leave. That works out well since we will be hiking in Switzerland and walking all over various destination cities in Italy. What else is a fireman if not tough?

Also, my Mom, who is half of the dog sitting crew, had arthroscopic knee surgery today, just 10 days before inheriting 2 extraordinarily active grand-puppies. Luckily, Dad is up to the challenge! Good times.

These last few weeks have been filled with the kind of stuff you can only do at the end. Or, of course, the things you have forgotten to do or no one told you about. . . . . My parents have been provided with 7 typed pages of instructions for the dogs and a few care-taking practice sessions. I am borrowing money belts, plug adaptors and travel purses from sisters and friends. We are ensuring that our cell phones will work in case of an emergency and our credit cards won’t be denied. My friend Teri casually mentioned on Tuesday that we should make sure we don’t need travel Visas because she knows of someone who was traveling to Australia and New Zealand who did need them. (Turns out that we don’t because our stay is nice and short, but the jolt to the heart was good practice for next time I am found unconscious!) I almost forgot the TSA locks. Has anyone else ever heard of these? My naïveté must be coming out and showing me for what I really am – someone who blissfully avoids airports and paranoia. Turns out the TSA has partnered with a few luggage lock making companies to produce locks to which they have a master key so that if your luggage is opened, they don’t cut the lock off. A good idea, but good luck finding some in a little more than a week’s notice.

Well, the count down begins and I know as soon as we are actually on the trip, Erik will do all the writing since I am notorious for falling asleep as soon as I hold still on vacation. (Let’s be honest, this is true all the time, vacation has nothing to do with it.)