Packing

Tonight I am packing. Our travel itinerary arrived today, listing hotels and inside China flight numbers and times. I guess now that I've seen these details, the reality of the trip is really sinking in. I had forced myself to wait to get a suitcase out until after this past weekend and its events were over. So now the weekend is over, and then today this itinerary arrives... surely now I must begin the packing process.

Oh, I'd definitely begun the process before now. How many times have I opened the drawers of Gwen's little dresser and tucked in an acquired item? How many times have I taken her little clothes out of the drawers and arranged them in piles around me on the floor, putting outfits together and deciding which ones should come on The Trip with us? Many times, I assure you.

But now the packing is real. The suitcase is open on the floor by my dresser. I have chosen all of Gwen's clothes and already have them sealed airtight in my "space saver" luggage bags, designed to suck all the air out of their contents and thus create more room in the suitcase. I have emptied her dresser drawers of the various and sundry other items I've been gathering~ medications for Gwen and for us, snacks for Gwen and for us, bottles, sippy cups, diapers, disposable bibs, toys and books for Gwen, books for us, electrical current converters, etc. Now these things are in heaps on the floor... how will I possibly fit them all into the suitcase and my backpack and still have room for clothes? I admit, I have made a substantial pile of things over in another corner of our bedroom, on Scott's side. He must take his fair share of these items in his luggage, too! He has sworn to take a very minimal amount of clothing, planning on buying things in China if he finds he needs more. I am doing my best to pack light... not an easy task for me.

And then there's the thought of wanting to bring some treasures home with us... we hear the shopping is amazing, the exchange rate fabulous. And really, when will we be getting back to China to shop again? The Thing To Do, we've heard, is plan on buying an extra suitcase while in the country to bring the treasures home in. There certainly won't be extra room in the ones we take with us.

My suitcase is Not Large. It is a business traveler's rolling bag, the kind that can be put in the overhead compartment on the airplane. I am really hoping that between the large backpack I will be able to wear, and this rolling bag, that I can get everything in. Scott has similar pieces of luggage, although his backpack is made to accomadate a laptop, and of course we really want to have that along. I'm hoping that with his minimalistic packing, he will be able to fit the video camera in his suitcase...

And now it is 11:40 p.m. Time to stop packing, time to finish this post. Time to go to bed and dream about the reason I'm finally packing... she's waiting for us on the other side of the world, and I pray she's dreaming about us, too.