How is it possible that we are leaving for New York in less than 2 weeks? Didn’t we have, like, 2 months to go? I swear we had plenty of time to get ready. Now I’m in a panic.

My house is a mess, the clothes are all dirty and my kids feel that summer vacation is all the excuse they need to lay on the couch and watch mindless reruns of Victorious. While it surprises them that I still have work to do as they become lazier and lazier and need my undivided attention, they are reticent about actually lifting a finger to maybe HELP me out around here. With my kids, either they have FUN every day… or the day has been a total waste. Sure, I’d like to have FUN too. But bills don’t wait for summer to be over. And FUN costs money… at least the kind of FUN my kids like to have.

At least we all have our wedding attire (that’s why we are going to New York, my brother is getting married), although Lauryn’s dress hasn’t arrived yet. She’s the flower girl and is having a special dress made for her. I’ve never in my life had a dress made for me. I need to get on that. Hoping her dress arrives this week so we can make sure it fits. Oh dear.

We’ve got the dogs settled… having a friend stay at our house while we are gone. Do you have any idea how much a kennel wants to charge to board 2 dogs for 2 weeks? Seriously! Half of our travel budget! Did you like how I mentioned someone would be staying at the house? That’s right… there’s nothing to steal anyway… really. And maybe I should also mention we are surrounded by neighbors who are in law enforcement. One is a CHP (California Highway Patrol), one is a Santa Clarita Sheriff, and the other is LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department). We are SO covered. Don’t try it!

How about a math word problem?

How many chargers does a family need to take with them for 5 iPods, 5 cameras, an iPad, a laptop and 3 cell phones? That’s right… TOO MANY!

Now, back to my panic.

What I still have to do:

1. Cancel the kennel reservation I made before I found out how much they would be bankrupting me.

2. Get all the clothes washed and folded so I can figure out how many more shirts and underwear I need to buy since we won’t be anywhere near a washing machine for 2 weeks.

3. Stop the mail. With our tiny little mail box, I don’t want to piss off the mail carrier. Although… he is pretty adept at cramming full-size padded manila envelopes that are marked Fragile into that little box.

4. Call the exterminator. We have a tradition of getting the house sprayed for ants before we leave on our summer vacation. It only takes one time coming home to a houseful of ants to make that one little call so worthwhile.

5. Mail wedding gift. Pretty sure I won’t be happy having to unwrap a beautifully wrapped wedding gift while standing at the airport counter with a mean looking TSA agent wondering what the hell I’m trying to sneak by them.

6. Make sure I pack plenty of paper, crayons, books, snacks and toys to keep 3 kids busy on an overnight flight. Or I could just pack some Benadryl and wake them in the morning. (I’m kidding!) (Sort of.)

Okay, time to get off the computer and start doing instead of writing.