Packing and prep and losing my mind--oh my

We are not packing light. Much to my dismay I see we're packing bag after bag. First there are gifts to take to the cousins and the in-laws (including a big bottle of tequila for margaritas). I've told the kids to pack about 5 days worth of clothes, mainly because I don't want to be doing laundry every other day. Even at this rate, we'll be spending too much time in the laundromat. (How do you say that in greek?)

Because both Terry and I are working during the trip (and blogging), we're both taking our laptops. Then we have our really cool camcorder (including a firewire cable to transfer video), two digital cameras (one of which is waterproof), my webcam and USB headset (for "work" and for skype calls). We're taking four SD cards ranging from 256MB to 1GB. I packed eight 1-hr DV tapes and some blank DVDs. Each kid is taking an MP3 player, plus Terry's taking his iRiver media player. That's at least $5k in digital equipment. We're going to appear ostentatious. At least half of the equipment can hide in a pocket, though.

Because we're going to the beach, we've packed our masks and snorkels. Terry bought sunscreen in bulk from drugstore.com. I bought deet on sale. I am packing enough shampoo, soap, and toothpaste for the 6 weeks. Why? Well, both me and one of my daughters have really sensitive skin and the last thing we need is reactions and rashes while on vacation.

Even though it'll rain in the UK, we're NOT taking umbrellas. We are packing light jackets. Bulk. Then there's a few beach towels. Necessary but Bulk. (We're taking towels instead of buying them because everything over there is twice the price it is here, plus the dollar is so weak.) At least shorts and shirts pack down well. We're going to have four pieces of luggage, which already freaks me out. That's way too much, but what can you do when taking 5 people overseas? I find myself longing for my backpacking days.

We're also taking quite a few books. I plan on reading at least two, perhaps three. The biggest question is which books to take. I just started reading The Chalice and the Blade. I have a few heavy books on my list: The Lucifer Principle is one of them. However, I'll likely leave that here and take As I Lay Dying instead. I need something escapist, so I'm looking at another Vonnegut book. Mumbo something...

The kids are excited about seeing a few of the World Cup games in the UK. As I write this, Australia and Brazil are playing. Erin asked if it's only men who play in the World Cup. I said yes. Her response: "darn it. That's not fair." Yep. I wish the WUSA had found a way to survive. If I only had a few million...

On that note, I'm going to watch the game.