He who would travel happily must travel light. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

The official countdown to NYC has begun!

Mom and I leave in just five days for our weekend in New York. I'm so excited. I've been planning this trip for over a month, but with just a week left I'm really getting into the details of it. All weekend I've found myself thinking things like "This time next week I'll be..."

I have my clothes for the week all set out, with the laundry carefully planned so that the jeans I want will be clean to take with me. I have exactly six jeans/skirts, so this planning was necessary in order to be dressed for work and still have something to take with me. I went out and bought walking shoes, and I've been wearing them for the past few days to break them in. I also bought a sweater jacket as a compromise between needing a coat for New York but not wanting to spend money on a coat I'm not going to need here in Florida.

I've got lists of items to bring with me, and lists of things to do before I leave. (The house has to be spotless since one of my co-workers will be coming by to take care of the dogs.) There are lists for the children (where they'll be and what they need to take with them). I also have lists of places to go and things to see while we're in New York. And when I say lists, plural, I'm seriously meaning plural lists. There are lists in my daytimer, and a copy of those lists in my laptop, and another set of lists on my desk at work.

I've been agonizing over what knitting project to bring with me. My daughter laughed at me over this, but I have two plane rides and several subway rides (minimum) to knit. Considering that I carry around a project in my purse plus two or three in the car, and that I knit in grocery lines and at red lights, I think that knitting on the subway is a good probability for me. I can't decide if I should bring my Lady Sweater, start my Tunic to bring with me (it's mostly stocking stitch), or maybe a sock or two would be better.

Mostly, though, I'm just excited to be going. I haven't seen my daughter since January, and that's far too long to go without hugging her.