T-minus 24!!

Is it just me, or has this been the LONGEST week ever?!?! Between the two of us fighting off yet another round of Chinese intestinal turbulence and worrying if the Puyehue ash cloud would even let us land in Australia (as of yesterday all flights have resumed!!), it felt like tomorrow would never arrive, and well I suppose it still hasn't.... Our bags are packed, bathrooms are sparkling, fresh sheets are on the bed to welcome us home, the floors are vacuumed, fridge cleaned out, and the self mani/pedi has been completed, smudged, fixed, chipped and fixed again. There is seriously nothing for me left to do but watch the clock. Get me to the beach!

Usually about now I would be frantically washing and ironing clothes, and packing about three times too much (I am my mother's daughter!). But thanks to very strict weight regulations on our intra-Australia flights, we are only able to check 1 40-pound bag each. Just stuff my carry-on to the brim, you say? Nope, that's maxed out at 15 pounds (which is one heavy purse!). This is far from the end of the world by any means. It's just that our last vacation was only 2 weeks in comparison and yet I checked two huge bags (yes dear, 8 pairs of shoes are always necessary!), while Brian only had a carry-on. How do men do it?? (Brian's wife did have to teach him that in the civilized world we have the luxury of wearing a clean pair of socks each day...) The clincher for this trip, is that we're taking all of our scuba gear, so Brian and I have to SHARE (gasp) 1 bag for a month's worth of clothes. Okay, I exaggerate, only a week's worth, because everywhere we're staying has laundry. But still! I was so worried about this I started packing days ago, and I am happy to announce the feat was easily accomplished. So when you see us both in the same outfit and non-cute shoes picture after picture for an entire month, please know that we did do laundry on occasion and that Brian was made to pack a whole week's worth of socks.

Proof.