I'm kind of exhausted. I'm still very excited about our trip but we've had to shell out a lot of cash the last few weeks... which means that, unexpectedly, a good portion of our trip is going to be funded by credit. That's not awful and it certainly won't inhibit our fun factor, but it is weighing on me a little more than I'd like it to. I'm pretty good at going into these things prepared... I save for the things I want. I don't like to use a lot of credit. This is uncomfortable for me. Mickey Mouse will cheer me up, though!

News on the bio-dad front. He's nice. Tall, white haired, grandpa looking. He's 77, has a garden and likes to decorate for Christmas. I told my mom about it and she was more on the okay side than I thought she'd be. I found out more about him and their divorce during our talk and that was enlightening. It made me realize how truly amazing she is, how much she's tolerated and been through in order to even keep us, keep us happy, and keep us healthy. I'm lucky, we're lucky, to have been raised by her. She drives me crazy... but she's my mom and I'm so proud of her.

I miss my grandpa today. I'm looking forward to visiting my grandma in anther week. She's 85 and I know I won't have her forever.

Less than a week to go and I'm still not completely packed. You know this is sending me over the edge of sanity.

My dog is awesome. Really. The vet said so. She said, and I quote: "It's nice to see a perfect dog once in a while." Win.

Matt went on a camping trip with his XC team on Thursday. I'm convinced he's been eaten by a bear. No cell contact for two days and I'm having real issues. He's supposed to be back home today around 2pm. It's nearly 1pm and he hasn't txtd or called yet... I'm certain there is a bear involved.

Today: Finish packing, clean car, look for lost money to fund my trip.

Tomorrow: Cry because we couldn't find any money, clean house, collapse in exhaustion.

My weekend is so covered.

We're three weeks from lift-off and I'm uncomfortably aware that I am not as prepared as I'd like to be. Ian is completely packed, Matt and Zach are missing odds and ends, Michael isn't even started and I'm about 80% there. There's so much still to do, though. Michael is having work done on the van. $850 later we should have a vehicle that doesn't try to poison you with burning oil (YAY) and then we'll begin to get the tires replaced. Our goal on that one is "sometime before winter". You'd think that would give us a decent window but it doesn't. "Winter" here is "fall" everywhere else. That's okay, though. We'll deal. Aside from the car stuff, Pagan has an appointment at the vet's office. He needs to be all caught up on his shots in order to have him boarded while we're on vacation. That's not so bad, I guess. Just a couple of things to worry about. Oh, and Zach and I need to pick up our new glasses (Matt already got his) and Michael needs to head to the doctor. Pain in his foot. Not so good, you know, considering we're going to be walking for 7 days straight. So, yeah, a busy couple of weeks on the horizon. All of the package stuff gets here on Monday and I'm sure that actually seeing the tickets will kick my not-so-good-at-planning-ass into high gear.