Hi-yo Silver! ;)

It's a "William Tell Overture" kind of day.

When I was working, and trying to get everything done that needed to be done in the days & hours before I went away on vacation -- both at work and at home -- I always felt like I was making a mad dash to the finish line (generally the moment when I collapsed into my seat on the airplane).  (This was doubly true at Christmastime.)

Attending our support group's holiday candlelighting service for bereaved parents (in past years) & dealing with the lingering grief over a baby who was supposed to born just in time to fuss over for Christmas, but never made it here.  :(  Finishing up projects at work. Writing up a status list for my boss to tell her where all my projects were at, where the files were located on the common drive, who the contacts were for each item, my emergency contact info, just in case (thankfully, I never did get a call). Remembering to leave an out of office message for my email auto-reply and voice mail.  Attending umpteen Christmas lunches and parties and coffees with colleagues and trying to think of appropriate ideas for the office Secret Santa exchange (on top of all the other gift-buying I had to do).  Trying to finish my own Christmas shopping. Making sure I had the year-end issues of People and Entertainment Weekly magazines for reading on the plane.

Doing some last-minute cleaning, so we won't have to face the dust and dirt when we get back. Doing laundry and planning what clothes and other stuff (books!) to take. Making sure we both have enough of our prescription medication to last the trip (and, if not, getting refills). Trying to eat up what's left in the refrigerator & cupboards before we leave, and throwing out what doesn't get eaten and will spoil while we're gone. (A lesson we haven't forgotten since the early days of our marriage, when I left some potatos in the cupboard of our non-air-conditioned apartment while we went away for two weeks in July. By the time we got back, they had not only sprouted, they had turned to mush. :p  It took DAYS and a lot of scrubbing with various cleaners and airing out & setting out dishes of vinegar to finally get the smell out of my cupboard...!)

Checking what bills will be coming due while we're away and setting up payments on my online banking app. Getting some cash for the trip from the ABM at our regular bank branch (yes, there are ABMs where we'll be going, but not my own bank's, and I refuse to pay  the extra fees to another bank if I can help it...!) Packing up my laptop files before we travel. Bringing up our suitcases from storage (in the basement, at our old house;  in our storage locker, here at the condo). Actually packing (something I generally don't do until the day before we leave). Exchanging gifts with BIL & family, and giving him an extra set of keys for the house/condo and asking him to check in every few days.  Asking someone (our neighbour at the house, BIL for the condo) to pick up the mail. Arranging transportation to the airport (generally BIL, if we're travelling on a weekend;  booking an airport limo otherwise), and calculating when we'll need to be picked up, and when to set the alarm clock so we'll have plenty of time to get ready. Doing the advance check-in, 24 hours before we travel.

I would tell my colleagues "It's a William Tell Overture kind of day,"  because I could actually hear the strains of the "William Tell Overture" (you might also know it as "The Lone Ranger" theme, lol) in my head as I frantically dashed around, trying to get things done and crossing them off my to-do list. (We used to play this piece of music when I was in school band, and I can actually see the notes on the page as well as hear them, lol.)

Thankfully, I don't have to worry about work anymore (and this was always our busiest, most stressful time of year, nevermind that it's Christmas too...!). I don't have children & all their Christmas activities to worry about.  And I have had most of my Christmas shopping done for a while now, other than a couple of stocking stuffers that I'll probably pick up once I get to my parents'.

But a lot of the other stuff still applies, and still has to get done. I met two former work colleagues downtown for our traditional pre-Christmas lunch yesterday, and then went to BIL's for coffee later that evening, bringing along our presents for everyone, and dropping off a set of our condo keys. I called to book an airport limo this morning, and I'm in the middle of an estimated half-dozen loads of laundry today.  Trying to fit in a viewing of "Springsteen on Broadway" on Netflix before we go. Housecleaning & packing, coming up...

Cue the music.

Hi-yo Silver!  Away!!*  (lol)

* Please note -- I may be old (lol) but I am not QUITE old enough to remember the original run of The Lone Ranger on TV, with Clayton Moore & Jay Silverheels (1949-57, for the record -- several years before I was born). But I did watch it in reruns as a kid. :)