The Packing Dilemma: where was my memo?
First of all, let me thank all the legitimate traffic making their way to this blog. I appear to be the victim of a spam referer–sites that have absolutely nothing to do with my blog or even in the English language racking up my sites states as views of my blog. 27 views today and I don’t think any of them legitimate. I honestly think there are only 4 of you out there who truly come to my site to see what I have to say. I’d appreciate some evidence of your existence, btw, so feel free to leave some comments.
Now back to our regularly scheduled post…
We had family obligations and other events (like clinic visits for the pesky breathing problems) that prevented DH and me from packing prior to the day of our trip. Not necessarily a bad thing because I was able to get all the laundry done, folded, and put away for the in-laws babysitting the children. I used my usual packing method–index cards with the day of the week, extras, and special events put down on the floor for me to lay down outfits.
I had specific outfits that I newly purchased for the spouse events but I wasn’t sure about the other days–in case I was going to be interacting with the spouses on our own. What should I travel in? The last time I traveled overseas I spent the whole flight having hot flashes. What would the weather be like? Why, oh why, couldn’t I wear my Barbie and the Rockers vintage tee and blue jeans?
DH came the room, threw down some jeans, some slacks, grabbed a few polos, a few button downs, and pulled out his suit. The only decision he had to make was which ties to wear–and he called in T1 & T2 to pick for him. Okay, he also had to pick which tie tacks to accessorize with. So not fair!
We packed the garment bag first. His suit, shirts, and slacks went in along with his dress shoes. I picked the new pantsuit with the miracle work tailoring and threw in a dress “just in case.” My plain black pumps went inside his dress shoes.
He was done and I took at least another hour still trying to decide. The in-laws arrived and I still had to shower. I still had instructions and emergency numbers to go over. I still needed to make sure I had all my electronics and gum for the flight. But it all got done and I think I ended up making good choices.
Except for a few airport glitches, the logistics of this trip were a dream. Our hotel room was actually ready when we arrived the following morning and that gave up time to rest up before adventuring out. We had shared a cab with one of the other couples attending the conference so I knew at least one American spouse would be there. But right away I was worried–she was tall and beautiful and definitely a corporate woman. Would I look drab and uncouth next to her?
DH and I spent our first day exploring cathedrals and cities of the dead–yup, an actual Necropolis. DH commented on the sadness of the acres of monuments–how families at one time spent so much money to honor the dead and yet so many were in shambles with broken statuary and caved in roofs and no one to remember why they were built in the first place.
We explored a few shops in the pedestrian up-scale shopping district near the underground and grabbed lunch at a little place called “Snacks and the City.” Still suffering a little from jet lag we headed back to the hotel.
DH knew a few of the guys coming in for the medical training day of the conference and we had plans to meet them for dinner. We ate with one captain and two other chief engineers. There was a great deal of shop talk but every once in a while a question would be sent my way–“What did you do today? How old are the children? Have you ever sailed with DH?” Honestly, I wasn’t bored with the shop talk. I got to see DH with his peers, hear them share similar frustrations and triumphs, and it gave me insight into his current work situation. I may have to be more proactive about sailing with him again soon.
DH chose not to go to the medical training because mainly captains and chief mates are the ones trained to deal with emergencies on board. This gave us our second day free to explore the city. We chose museums, winter gardens, and monuments this time. Museum snack bar lunch was good quality and relatively inexpensive as far as museum fare goes. I learned that what they consider a “broth” is what we would actually consider a soup. Bread is described by color and shape (it is brown bread, not wheat). Soda is in 12 oz. cans, not 16 oz.
We tried to find a “must see” landmark but it turned out to be too-specific a topic museum designed by a native son architect. I snapped a quick picture of the outside and we headed back to the hotel. He had dinner by ourselves. Well, relatively. We had another patron beside us who first of all had to move out of the corner he had been seated at to right next to us because “the lighting was better.” Then he spent his entire meal complaining that his triple fried chips were not done correctly and kept sending the server back to the chef to get information on how they were “supposed” to be cooked and what the chef did wrong.
I could get used to three course meals but was dreading E.o.t.T. when I got back. Thus ended Day 2 and if I’m going to keep this to 1,000 words, I’ll have to get to the question: Where Was My Memo tomorrow.
snipewife 