That's right: I began this year by packing. Hubby and I are about to head to my home country, to spend some time with the relatives Hubby has only met once and I have only seen 3 times this century. As you can imagine, Hubby is excited about this upcoming adventure, and I am emotional about getting to see my grandparents again.
Meanwhile, we are having to pack for a climate drastically different from the one we live in; Hubby is actually very excited that he, for the first time in his life, may experience 0°F; he has even mentioned acquiring a huge thermometer to take pictures next to to record this historic event (I just think that kind of cold of overrated, brrr, and keep hoping that the weather folks are joking). I have kept the cold weather clothes purchased when I stopped growing (so, in the last century), so I will be warm although quite possibly very out of style :) Accessorizing my beloved Southerner has been a very different story ("What store is likely to carry long johns?" - a question asked while wearing a t-shirt).
Another challenge is packing bulky winter clothes into a minimum amount of small luggage pieces, since we are also, coincidentally, going to a place where door-to-door vehicular service is a luxury intermittent with the snowy weather. But not to worry, Hubby's got a solution for this one: as I got home yesterday, I found a bunch of the clothes that were set out to be packed ... vacuum sealed. Yep, as in, using the vacuum sealer for food one of Hubby's best friends gave us for our wedding. Hubby was immediately fascinated with the toy, with our wedding cake being the first thing to ever be sealed by the almighty vacuum sealer (it tasted great a year later, although it was a tiny bit smooshed ;) We now have very neat (and very wrinkled) 3-day clothes packs (can you tell I married an engineer?)
Well, I'd better get back to squeezing in a little more work before the trip, clearing out the yard (it is surprisingly warm here today!), and, sigh, more packing.
P.S. There will be no running but a lot of walking during the trip (I have no running clothes for that kind of cold, plus running on ice is a no-no); I will have to try to make up some of the runs when we return!
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5 comments:
Make sure you tell your Southerner that snow is wet and waterproof stuff is good :-) I understand the fascination with cold weather because I grew up where it was warm all year round.
Seriously, though, I'm glad that you get to go home! I hope that you have a safe trip and plenty of wonderful stories for us when you get home :-)
(Oh, yeah, some sort of sporting goods store would be good for long johns.)
Be careful with the vacuum packing -- the weight can add up fast that way. The airline EGM took overseas charged a LOT more for an overweight bag (i.e. >50 lbs) than an extra bag.
Have a great trip! Do Hubby and your relatives have a language in common?
Enjoy your trip!
Amanda - thanks, I am sure it will be an interesting trip! We did end up getting most of the stuff for him at the sporting goods, so he is going to look like he's about to hit the slopes even though we are heading to a million-people city. Oh well :) It is pretty much impossible to conceal an American outside of the U.S. anyways :)
EGF - we have also been weighing our luggage as we go, so no worries! We basically need to only bring what we can personally carry, which is a challenge. Hubby and my relatives don't have a language in common as he speaks as little Ukrainian as they do English; however, last time we visited we figured out that he could understand a lot of what was going on from gestures, and, of course, I am there to translate both ways.
Rebecca - thanks! I'll blog about it when I get back!
Have a great trip!
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