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Life has been moving very fast lately.  DH has not been happy at work, and the back-breaking straw was dropped last week.  He will be retiring on March 21st.  To celebrate his freedom, he has booked us for a trans-pacific cruise, from Sydney to Seattle.  We will leave on the 9th of April!

I fully endorse his actions.  My internal committee has a dour, tightfisted character that is screaming, "No!  This is reckless.  This is madness.  He needs to put up with the employee abuse till he's 65 and can retire with full benefits."  Then everyone else in the committee knocks the tight fist down and sits on him till he shuts up.  Because DH does NOT have to put up with ingratitude and abuse! (You know how it is.  A company-wide emergency comes up and you manage, just barely to walk on water, and the next thing you know, they want you to trot across the lake and fetch another 6 pack.) We'll manage retirement just fine, thank you!  We are adaptable and inventive and we can cope.

The cruise is a terrific deal.  Ever since the Carnival  disaster, all the cruise lines are hurting for bookings.  People are canceling in droves.  So we can get 23 days of cruise-ship comfort, and an awesome adventure, for about $90 each a day.  That includes food, room service, a plush room, entertainment, and stops in places like Fiji, Samoa, Nawiliwili, and Hawaii.  Life is uncertain.  Use the good china!  Wear that silk nighty.  Eat dessert first.

I wish we could spend more time in Australia.  We will arrive in Sydney on the morning of the 11th (losing a day when we cross the International Date Line) and the ship departs on the 13th.  DH doesn't like to leave things unfinished, so we will not leave till all the retirement paperwork has been processed.

I am spending a lot of time turning in circles, not knowing what to start first.  Pack? Plan the travel knitting? Sew? Write? What comes first?  I think I'll grab a little snack while I figure that out.  And then, I'll play a little solitaire while I eat my snack.  And then, where in hell has the day gone?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could somehow sculpt our backsides overnight to fit the airline seats?  I'm going to be packing myself into Quantas Coach for 14 hours.

Add to the to do list: Go to the doctor and get sleeping pills. Carry on wool shawl and ear-plugs.  Wear silk pants and shirt.  Carry on a change of underwear.  Make that two changes, just in case.  Carry trail mix just in case.  Carry bandaids, aspirin and antacids, just in case.  Make sure to pack a second suitcase inside the primary suitcase so you have something to carry the souvenirs in.  Make pompom for back-up suitcase to make it easy to find on the luggage belt. (I tie yarn pompoms to our suitcases.  It distinguishes our black roller bag from all the other black roller bags.)  Tell the credit card companies we will be in Australia.  Pack knitting.  Pack back-up knitting. Load a bunch of books on the cell phone and make sure the charger is in the carryon so I can listen to books.  Carry on the lap-top so I can write. (there will be many days at sea.)  Make sure we have enough prescription medications.

First thing to do.  Make a list.