Thursday 20 May 2010

Shop Girl Pack Up!

In 12 days I’m leaving the country.
This means 12 days to worry about what I’ve got to do before I go
There must be something I have to do because I’m going away for ages.
I’m talking months-worth of knickers to pack, contact lenses to order, certificates to certify if I can find them....
I’m off to America and then to Colombia to:
a) meet my future in-laws
b) work on my new book
c) spend more than a weekend with the Fiancé
My plane ticket is booked and I have a passport.
What more do I need?
When I worry, I get very sleepy.
So sleepy I can’t even keep my eyes open to write a list of things I have to do.
Instead of writing a list and dealing with each point, I worry until I fall asleep.
A part of me quite fancies sleeping through to Day 12, then waking up to find my suitcase miraculously packed.
If you’ve read my book you’ll know my views on packing.
If you haven’t then I’ll tell you it’s at the top of my Dislikes list (but don’t let this free info put you off buying it).
Luckily the Fiancé is going to supervise.
If it was left to me I’d leave it until the last minute and then I’d fill my suitcase with tights.
That’s what I did when we went to Greece. I packed black tights and nothing to wear with them.
When I’m not worried I’m very excited.
This is an important trip.
I’m finally going to discover where the Fiancé comes from.
I’m going to meet the whole family.
Two years together and I haven’t met a single member!
His mum has planned some outings for just the two of us and I can’t wait to finally talk to her in person.
I’m also hoping to spend time with his Grandma and get her to teach me to cook some Colombian dishes.
Just writing this down has transformed my worry into excitement again.
I’ve finally woken up!
I could write a list now.
I might even put the washing on in preparation.
If I carry on thinking about it, I could get so excited that I start looking for a suitcase.
But let’s not get carried away.
I’m not packing.
Oh no.
There’s 12 days to go until I need to do that.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad you managed to make it home from Spain. I was wondering after I heard the volcano erupted again.

I may be wrong, but I'm thinking that suitcase is gonna be a little small to hold months-worth of knickers, let alone your other wardrobe. Though, I suppose you'll be able to do some wash while you're there :)

I've always been a last-minute packer myself, and somehow, I was always forgetting my toothbrush. Now, I'm so pannicy about forgetting it that I pack it first. Silly, really, when you consider there's a drug store on almost every corner these days. And I'm sure you'll find it equally easy to locate anything you forget.

Have a great time on your trip! I hope it inspires your writing to no end!

@nicolahulks said...

How fantastic! What an amazing trip! I didn't have quite such an exciting introduction to my in laws. The first time I met them was outside West Ham's stadium where they had been watching a match. I had to navigate through hundreds of angry football fans (they had lost) and so arrived rather flustered!

Now my mother in law and I regularly leave my husband at home to go off and enjoy ourselves (ignoring his pleas of what about meeee!)

If you do get any recipes out of Grandma, do share! Unless of course they are closely guarded family secrets and you are sworn to lifelong secrecy! Now that would be fun!

xx

Shop Girl said...

Skye, funny you should say that, the two things I always forget to pack are my TOOTHBRUSH and PYJAMAS! And although there's drugstores everywhere I remember having to buy a toothbrush for that weekend in Greece and it cost me about 5 Euros. OUCH!

Nicola, did you make sure to say you supported West Ham? When my fiance met my dad the first thing he did was talk about spanish football which made my dad v happy. very clever move. I'll do my best to discover her cooking secrets... my fiance says I have to cook them all a Spanish omelette..oh oh my last was a bit soggy.

@nicolahulks said...

Yeah I only let on that I'm a football hater later on in the relationship. Get your feet under the table first!! :)

green ink said...

That sounds amazing. It is wonderful to see where your partner comes from, meet their family and see where they grew up, went to school...it's a part of the story you need to know, definitely. Last year Tom and I went back to Australia together and I was finally able to show him my home town and all my favourite places, and he finally met my sisters - it's so exciting and everything just feels even more right than it already did. It's wonderful to share the happy parts of your past with the person you love. You're going to have a blast, and I imagine it will fuel your writing even more.

Happy travels and writing! x