Now They Want To Hire Me...

In the last 3 days I've had 2 potential freelance jobs and 1 speaking engagement come my way. All very exciting but a bit frantic as I send e-mails that read, "Would love the work.  Leaving the country on Saturday. Must have all details in place by then. Respond ASAP." 

Well, maybe it's not quite that bad, but it does feel rushed.

I have entered list-making mania. Daily, I create lists: "Items to remember to pack," "What to leave out for the house sitter," "Items to carry-on the plane," "People to send itineraries to," "Books/Activities to Take on Plane..." It goes on from there. I wonder what would happen if I never made a list and just winged it? I suspect 98% of what needs to get done would get done anyway.

We're having one hotel problem. The hotel we wanted in Inverness is full. They recommended another nearby hotel but it's pricey and looks stuffy so today I started a new search. I found 3 places I liked, e-mailed them all for availability and got back replies they were all  full. Perhaps we'll be camping with Nessie on the shores of Loch Ness?

Quick update: Another battle resolved, thankfully w/out a battle. We had a pleasant meeting of the minds at my Writer's Group board meeting and all came unanimously to agreement on issue we had been divided on. I think poor communication played a large part here, as it does in most "battles." 

My head is racing and I've got 3 "To Do" lists by my side. One of the items is to post blog entries. I've asked my house sitter/friend/blogger extraordinaire in her own right to publish my entry every other day. Basically, Squarespace (the host of this site) allows to hold "unpublished" blogs. So I'll have my friend go in and click the "publish" button every other day so there's something for you to read.

I jogged on the treadmill this morning and am hitting yoga class at 6:15 tonight. I feel confident one day of serious exercise will shed the excess 5 lbs I'm carrying (assuming that hunk of chocolate cake I had at lunch just disappears).

Cheers!

Travel Planning

Last night Blair and I spent three hours in the office--he at the computer, me at my laptop--planning our trip.  It's unusual that we've put off the final details--room and car reservations--until the last minute like this.  But things seem to be running smoothly.  This morning we received confirmations from all but one of the hotels.

I"m a little concerned because we're doing a lot of "rent a car here, drop it off there, grab a train here, rent a new car there" maneuvering.  Our plan is to start in the English countryside in Bath for 2 days (rent a car) then head to London for 3 days (no car). We'll drop mom off at the airport on Friday and grab a train to Edinburgh. There we'll rent a car and head to Inverness. We ditch the car in Glasgow and take a train to the Lake District, where we rent another car  for 2 days. Return that car and catch a train back to London for the final two days. 

I think what makes me nervous is that with that many travel switches there's a greater chance of something going wrong than if we just got a car and kept it. But neither of us have the desire to try and drive a car in London and I've been told the train ride to Scotland is spectacular, so we'll soldier on.

We're staying in what look to be some lovely hotels. We consulted both Fodor's and Rick Steves to come up with places to stay. We considered staying at a few smaller B&B's to get the "homey" feel of the country but in the end, we chickened out.  Well, perhaps that's not the right term. In many places we could get a larger hotel room with amenities for almost the same price as a small B&B room.  The hotel is more centrally located and has a restaurant, etc. Yet I can't help feel we're missing something of the travel experience, staying in hotels versus doing it the Rick Steves way. Maybe if I get a little more travel under my belt I'll feel more comfortable going off the beaten path. I hate to think of myself as one of those touristy American travelers who only hits the main sites and never gets a real feel for the country she's in but that's exactly what I am.

Still, I have expectations of us returning to England at some point. Some places, like Alaska, we viewed as, "We better hit every main site that we can because the chances of us making it back here are slim."  But there is so much history in England that I think a second (and third and fourth) trip would be well worth it. So maybe we'll take the plunge into the B&B world the next time around.

Preparing to Leave

We leave Saturday for our trip to England/Scotland and I've just about written this week off as a work week and caved in to the fact that I will do little other than "get ready for the trip."

I've noticed getting ready for a trip means different things to a man than it does a woman. Here's what Blair does to get ready for a trip: He packs. Well, that's not fair. He also makes sure we have all our travel documents, itineraries and money.

Here's what I do to get ready for a trip:

• Compile a (4 pages and growing) document for the housesitter with detailed instructions on care and feeding of the cats, emergency numbers, instructions for how to operate the DVD player and remote, reminders of when trash and mail pickup occur, and brief bios on all our neighbors.
  
• Go to CVS and stock up on $30 worth of "miniatures: miniature Crest, miniature deodorant, miniature can of gel shaving cream,...
• Clean the house and wash sheets on both beds so housesitter has choice of where to sleep
• Prepare advance blogs to be posted during my absence (I won't leave you hangin'...)
• Empty the fridge
• Go through my wardrobe and determine I need new socks, shoes, and underwear.  Go on a shopping binge.
• Feel guilty about unnecessary spending on shopping binge and return majority of items.
• Get a haircut, pedicure, underarm waxing and eye exam in preparation for trip.
• Order and pick-up extra prescriptions to bring along on trip
• Back-up files on computer in case of unforeseen power surge in our absence
• Make list of "items not to be forgotten" to take on trip. Misplace list and rewrite. Repeat.
• Spend quality time with cats
  
• Fret about need to lose 10 lbs and gain 2 lbs in the process
• Wash every article of clothing I own so that I have a fresh slate to chose from for packing
• Pick up clothes from dry cleaner

My dirty little secret is that I actually like doing all the prep work. Makes me feel like I'm getting things DONE in life. Mostly unnecessary things, but things nonetheless.

Thank God we only travel like this once a year. 

No Sense of Direction

I could get lost in my own backyard. It's a cliche, but true. I not only have no sense of direction, I have a negative pull when it comes to figuring out where the heck I am. Tonight, for example, I got lost driving to a SCBWI (Society of Children Book Writers & Editors) Schmooze session in Winston-Salem. The chaos began when I thought I knew exactly where I was going.  That should have been my first clue something was amiss.

We were meeting at a Borders. When I visualized the location, I thought it was in a shopping center I knew. So I drove to the Center and guess what? No Borders. I drove a little further in the hopes of accidentally bumping into the shopping center. This is a tactic I often employ but it didn't pan out so I turned around.

By this time I thought I remembered the Borders being near the interstate and that I might know how to get there. But, to be safe, I stopped at an Exxon station and asked for directions. "Just pull left out of here," said the cashier motioning. "Then left on Knollwood and that will take you right there."

Simple. But when I went to pull out of the station, I was confused. Did she mean go left on the little side road the station was on or left on the big road I had pulled off of to get to the station? I decided the big road was the safer bet. And--here's the surprising part--I was wrong.

So I drive a couple miles and pull up to a cop at a stoplight. I motion him to roll down his window. "I'm trying to get to Borders," I say.

"Turn around and go back," he said. "Take the Stratford road exit on the left (emphasis mine). You'll come right to it."

Fine. I turn around, pass a Stratford Road exit on the right only to find there is no left exit to Stratford. Grrrrr.  So I hop on 40 W and just hope for the best as I dial Blair. He answers. "I'm lost," I announce.

"Where are you?"

"Coming up on Jonestown Rd."

"You're going the wrong way. Turn around and take the Stratford Road exit."

So I finally get to my meeting. But this is my life. People make fun of me for leaving for the airport 3 hours early or  allowing 1 hour for a 15 minute drive, but this is the perfect example of why that extra time is a necessity in my life.

My friend Heather has gone so far to accuse me of sucking the directional sense out people. Heather never gets lost unless I'm in the car with her. She may have a point. When I was in Portland my editor drove me to a PetSmart that she pretty much knew the way too but wasn't worried b/c she had a great sense of direction. We drove around for 20 minutes trying to find the place.

"It's me," I told her when she apologized. "This is my fault." 

I'm thinking when we leave for Europe I need to have no contact with the pilots whatsoever. If I even just say hello, we may end up in Japan.