3 more work days...

A very long day at work, though I feel like I made a tiny dent in my list. Of course, I didn't actually do what I had planned on doing, which is clear off my desk. Poor Lindsay.

The big news is that Wil was offered a job today -- when we return from our trip Wil will start his new job. Hooray!

packed

It still seems pretty surreal -- but Wil and I went out to get a few last things and both of us are packed and ready to go. Or as ready as we can be. Still lots of random small tasks to do but we're very close. Can't believe it!

Yes, I'm taking too much stuff. I know this. But I can't help it.

just around the corner!

Wil and I spent the day helping our friend Mike and Allison sell their Heavenly pretzels and "big cheezy" scones at the Seattle International Beer Festival -- 12 long hours, but good fun (and good beer). We stood and danced and chatted and laughed all day. Really great day. But that's the last big task before we go on our trip -- so I guess we need to get packed now.

<10 days

Made a quick trip to REI today -- Wil decided that his shoes were indeed too big, so we exchanged them for a half size smaller. Oh, and we bought additional random items -- an ultralight "packtowl" for me (to replace my giant "lite" one) and sunhats for the both of us. Really not much else we can buy at this point...

Terrifying to notice that we are less than 10 full days away from our departure. Umm, how are we going to get everything done? Not sure. But we have a long weekend which gives us time to pack for real... and then we'll make up the daily cleaning roster so that the house is sparkling clean for when Matt moves in.

strong Euro, weak Dollar

Wil paid the remainder of our Carros de Foc fees today. Now, mind you, it's 6 nights room for two people, plus 3 meals per day. But, still, 498 Euro is now $750. Yikes. And apparently that doesn't include porters, guides, or horses. Just kidding. (Okay, it *doesn't* include any of those things, but we didn't expect that....)

Really really pleased that our holiday is just around the corner!

countdown

Umm... really? Less than 2 weeks? Yikes.

thank heavens for the Swiss

Discovered on Friday that our flight reservation from Barcelona to Tangier had been cancelled -- not that the agency had told us, but I logged in to look up the flight times and numbers saw it on our itinerary. Oh. Great. Wil called them and the less-than-helpful staff said, "Oh, um, maybe the flight was sold out." (Which it wasn't, since anyone with a European credit card could still book them through Jet4You.)

So Wil went back to the drawing board and found a Swiss/Italian flight called Bravofly. Because they are able to process payments via Paypal (crazy!) we decided to give them ago. Oh, and they didn't add a huge fee on top of the flight cost, AND we were able to pay for our luggage in advance. Sure, it still took a day for them to confirm the ticketing info with Jet4You, but in the end we were able to book. Bravo, Bravofly.

Scary to see the countdown ticker show less than 3 weeks. Very very scary. Seems like lots and lots to do... but very little that we can do right now.