Leavin' On A Jet Plane

My bags are packed. The traveler's checks are purchased. The photo album is made. The gifts are bought and packed. The camera is in the day pack. My passport is ready.

I've finished reading So Long and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless. I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows because the book was too big to take along in hardcover and I didn't want to accidentally hear any spoilers.

Tomorrow DD#2 and I leave for a 16 day trip to Japan with 10 other Girl Scouts and 4 other adult leaders.

Hubs and DS#2 leave next Sunday.

Over the years, we've hosted several Japanese Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, showed them around town, taken them camping, river rafting, fishing. Now we're going to visit them. The Boy Scouts will include Korean Scouts as well as Japanese and American.

We'll be doing some sightseeing and hike Mt. Fuji. We'll be visiting museums, temples, and parks with bowing deer. And shopping, although Japan is not the bargain it once was.

I'm leaving the computer at home, so I will not be posting. Or reading other blogs and columns. Or responding to e-mails. Or cleaning the spam out of my in-box.

DS#1 will be moving to his first college apartment without us. DD#1 will be celebrating her 21st birthday on her own--which scares me more than anything that could possibly happen at work. I figure that work will either realize they don't need me and I'll be laid off or they will decide that I can Never Do This Again. And give me a Treo or a Blackberry (also known as a "Crackberry") so I'm available 24/7/365.

I've tried to make sure all contingencies and possibilities are covered, which means there are probably gaping holes.

Too bad. I'm outta here.

Sayonara until my return next month!