Percolation

I've been percolating a lot lately. There are things I want to say, but I don't know quite what they are yet.

I'm staying busy prepping for our trip. I'm doing the slow pack, as opposed to the quick pack half an hour before you go to the airport when you toss what you *think* will get you through and then you tell yourself that you'll buy anything you forgot.

The slow pack is much like the quick pack; it's just slow and elongated to over a week. A big part of it is the show. When you have a 4 year old and it's her first plane ride, it's all about the psychological preparation. She knows we're going on a plane (a jet even!) and that we're going to fly in the clouds. She's really, really stoked. We're taking her through all the phases of preparation, starting with her hand-drawn airplane on April 23rd on her calendar. Packing snacks. Packing her medicine. Packing clothes.

Controlling aunt is being controlling aunt. She says we need to go to Franklin Institute. We told her that J wants to see dinosaur bones. She says Franklin Institute has dinosaur bones. We go to the website, and it doesn't say anything about dinosaurs. Then my husband e-mails Franklin Institute, and they respond saying they don't have dinosaurs. There's a science museum that DOES have dinosaur skeletons, including one of a T-Rex, which is her favorite dinosaur. We want to take her to that instead, but aunt really wants to go to Franklin Institute. Via website viewing, the Franklin Institute looks a lot like the children's museum in Seattle; see one of those, see them all.

Everything is a freaking argument, and it's supposed to be a vacation. As much as my mom can irritate me, at least she's not controlling like this. I'm not used to it, so I find it extremely aggravating. Is this why women have the stereotype of being nagging and controlling? I think I am, but then my husband laughs when I say I think I am. I think I'm understanding his laugh now; I don't come anywhere close to the controlling stratosphere compared to the women he grew up with.

I'm trying to tie loose work ends up before I leave, but it looks like I'm going to be doing work while on vacation. Honestly with controlling family, I will be looking for a reprieve - even if it must be work. I just wish my new work laptop didn't weigh 20 pounds. (Ok, it probably only weighs 10 pounds, but it really is far heavier than any other laptop I've had in the past decade.)