Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Plan more than you can do, then do it. (Anonymous)

I have 18 days to finish packing up my house in order to move October 1st. So far I've sorted through the garage and most of the den. I still have my bedroom, the attic closet, the living room, kitchen, pantry, and porch storage. The kids are old enough to do their own rooms. At least, I hope so.

I'm planning a huge yard sale, since I won't have room in the new apartment for my house-worth of stuff. My sister has offered to hold the sale at her house, which is gratefully appreciated since I won't have a yard anymore. I just have to get everything down to her before then.

I have to help find a group home for my client to move into after his mother's funeral on Saturday.

I'm supposed to be helping my sister plan her wedding renewal to celebrate her 25th anniversary in October. I offered to help her find or make a gown, but that was obviously before I realized that there aren't a dozen weekends in September.

We're also planning a special get-together for my aunt's 70th birthday in October. And my daughter is coming down as well. So I have to have everything unpacked and organized by October 8th.

And I won't even go into the ridiculously long list of reports and goals that I have due at work.

So with all of these stress-inducing deadlines looming above me, naturally I decided to start plans for a Gathering in North Carolina.

Seriously. I had such a great time on vacation this past weekend. But mom and I kept talking about how much we enjoyed the Family Gathering in 2006, and how we really should get together with everyone again. We've all been saying that for four years now. And there's been one reason after another why we haven't done it. (This is a bad year for this person, next year would be better. But that's a bad year for that person, so maybe another year...)

Well, enough is enough. I'm tired of just saying that we should do it but we never actually get to go. I am taking mom and the kids camping in Cherokee again next summer. It won't be until July 2010, so there's plenty of time to make our plans. Hopefully we can get most of the Neuhaus/Williams family there, along with friends and relatives -- Y'all are invited! There's a group on Facebook, or just leave me a comment here if you're interested.