MM Blog 3/24: Prepping for vacation

Hello everyone, and happy Tuesday. It was a gorgeous day in Cincinnati, mid-70s and sunny, and I actually got to go outside during it which was wonderful. I was at P&G's in-house "ideation" facility north of Cincinnati called "The Gym." Can't really say what I was ideating about, but the good part about the Gym is they want you to be creative and to be creative you have to have some fun along the way. So we all got to go outside into the parking lot and do a team building exercise (and better yet enjoy the weather).

Tonight was all about getting ready for our vacation. We leave in 11 days to go skiing in Whistler, Canada. We have gotten into a rhythm of going skiing one year, then to Florida with my parents the next, this is our skiing year. The last time we went only Ben and Claire were in ski school as Sarah was not yet three, this year she will join her older brother and sister. I am not a huge skier, and must say am even less excited this year after the Natasha Richardson accident. But I love the mountains and the scenery. I also think it is really important to expose my children early, as most of my fear comes from the fact that I did not ski until I was in college and not very often since.

At dinner we realized we really needed to inventory our equipment before we left. Then we also realized we had zero free time this weekend to go shopping for what we need (it's Claire's birthday and the start of little league practice so a big more hectic than usual), and we leave the next weekend. So we decided it would be best to go to the store after Ben's hockey game tomorrow night. We would be out anyway and not too far from the store, which meant we had to inventory tonight. In the spirit of giving kudos to my book and my tips, it really wasn't that hard to do, because I know where everything is.

First I hit the locker room to grab winter coats, hats and gloves and brought them upstairs. Then I went to our skiing trunk, where we keep all the equipment. Arnie had a pad and we wrote down what we needed...like a pair of goggles for Sarah, long underwear for Ben as he outgrew his last pair (or should I say each pair was handed down), so warm socks and that was about it. I guess we could have gone as far as packing, but we wanted to call our niece and wish her a happy birthday as we would not be home tomorrow on her actual birthday. For now it is in a pile in our office and I will find a large duffel to pack it in tomorrow.

I am hoping to be completely packed by the end of the weekend. The good news about skiing for spring break is you don't use the same clothes that we are using now in Cincinnati, so no excuse to not pack early. I truly believe the best way to start your vacation off on the right foot, is to pack in advance so you don't have a lot of stress the day of your departure. Ciao.