Thursday, August 14, 2008

Last Things First

Mow the lawn in neat, straight lines

Fix the loose piece of trim in the bathroom

Make three batches of my "TigerGravy" spaghetti sauce (and freeze)

Fix the flag holder out front and hang the Red, White, and Blue

Finally go sailing in the boat on Cayuga Lake

Videotape me reading as many bedtime stories as I can

Get current on BSG episodes with Lisa

Hang the baby swing on the tree limb out back

Paint the front door the right shade of "forest pine" green to match the shutters

Eat, drink, and be happy

This is just a sample of the list of things that I need to do and things that I want to do in order to leave with piece of mind. Most of us don't think of what we'd need to do - or want to do - if we knew we were going to be away from home for a year.

Whenever we take a long roadtrip, Lisa and I clean the house top to bottom before we leave. When we come home frazzled and tired everything in the house is in order when we walk in the door. It helps in the transition from travel and cuts down on the chaos.

This ritual is exponentially bigger as I head to Iraq.

The list contain those jobs we take for granted. The list contains the practical odd jobs that need to get done. The list also contains mental and emotional to-dos I need finish in order to leave with piece of mind.

With 36 hours to go the list is getting shorter:

One more bedtime story for TJ
One more family run around town
One more cook-out of bratwursts
One more night in my own bed

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