A Disorganized Departure

[billroper]

I'd hoped to leave town fairly early this afternoon. As it was, after much chaos, we finally got underway at 4:15 PM. This was not too bad.

And then I realized as I pulled onto the Tri-State Tollway that I'd forgotten to grab the CDs for Urban Tapestry. Damn! So I got off at the first exit and took surface streets back home. I ran in to get the CDs, but first I had to check the e-mail to make sure I remembered exactly what to grab. While that was going on, I left daisy_knotwise to sort things out with the girls.

Running down the mental checklist, I realized that at no time had I asked Gretchen if she had grabbed the passports. Since I'd explicitly put the four of them on top of the pie safe the other night, I was pretty sure that Gretchen would have taken them, so I decided just to quietly look and when I discovered that they weren't there, Gretchen would never know that I had any doubts about her remembering the passports.

So I picked up the four passports and put them in my shirt pocket, went to the basement and grabbed the CDs, and headed back to the car.

Where Gretchen was in the process of changing Katie, who had managed to leak out of the diaper and onto her pants. Gretchen was going to change her into a pair of pants from the luggage -- I suggested that perhaps we might want to start with a full complement of clean pants. Gretchen agreed and went in to get the pants.

At some point during this process, I had pulled the four passports out of my pocket and waved them at Gretchen. She looked suitably annoyed at having forgotten them too. So -- all things considered! -- it turned out to be a good thing that I'd forgotten the CDs, because while forgetting the CDs would be annoying, forgetting the passports could put a real damper on the trip.

So it was 5:00 PM and we set out again.

And about 40 minutes later, I realized that in the process of Katie helping me pack, I had managed to pack no socks and no underwear. Ack!

So when we stopped for dinner, we then proceeded to a Meijer's. There I acquired perfectly serviceable socks and some very doubtful underwear. If it actually proves to be more useless than doubtful in the morning, I'm going to try to find a Casual Male store and pick up some less doubtful underwear.

I wonder what else we forgot?

Comments

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

If you find a Kmart along the way, they usually have 3X Fruit of the Loom that are extremely undoubtful and way the heck cheaper than Casual Male.

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

I've gone off without socks, at least once. Don't recall ever going off without undies, though.

Going on safari..

[jdonat.livejournal.com]

Been there, forgotten that..Checklists. Written ones. Trust me on this one.

"If you don't write it down, it didn't happen" Jack Ryan/Tom Clancy, Executive Orders.....

[bwittig.livejournal.com]

Not that you will get this until after you pass it, but I-69/I-75 has both Kmart and Casual Male stores within 2 miles of the I-75 exit.

Best of luck on your commando raid into CA.

[artbeco.livejournal.com]

:D Okay, you've made me laugh at the start of what has threatened to be a bad day, so thanks. Enjoy your commando raid, as has been said!

Ah, yes the days of traveling with kids in diapers. You're lucky you've remembered to pack your heads. Have a blast at the con, and hopefully there will be some willing adults to spell you both with the kids so that you get to actually enjoy a bit of the con!

[rono-60103.livejournal.com]

It is amazing how much more chaotic packing and traveling is with kids. And because I got my kid in the slightly broken in 5-year-old stage, I didn't have to deal with toddlers or diapers, so I missed dealing with that even higher level of chaos.

[kizoku42.livejournal.com]

On camping trips I almost invariably forgot -something-. Ended up with a generic online checklist that I would edit for a particular trip. Columns for "own it", "found it", "stacked in the living room", "packed", and "in the car". Packing trips on Isle Royale, you can't buy it.