Well we leave in less than 72 hours...and we are in full on packing and prep mode. Our spare bedroom is piled high with stuff we want to pack----1/3 of it will probably not come, but we'll see. Our bird (Noble Macaw---a small species of parrot) got groomed and picked up for boarding today and tmw we get the keys and directions to the Cat/House/Fish-sitter (she can't also watch the bird, Sarabi, because she is too high maintenance and not very friendly towards women). We're a little nervous because one of our fish extender goodies has not arrived. It's in transit so we're cutting it pretty close! All our other fish extender gifts and magnets for both cruises are done and packed...as is our fish extender. Pirate costumes and tuxes are packed. Have to go through our boardgames and decide what we're bringing (we're not really night club people, so you'll frequently find us at a table somewhere playing cards or games....so feel free to join in!!

). The easy stuff to pack is set out and ready---underwear, socks, shoes.....the actual CLOTHES are a lot harder to decide upon since we're going to hit so many different climates. And then there's the issue of coats.....we are really strongly leaning towards NOT bringing our winter coats. We're used to weather in the 40's this time of year and can survive in layers and so we're thinking we might try to do that for this trip. I mean, how much time will we really be spending outside anyway? Are we nuts? Our winter jackets are just so heavy and bulky and we don't really want to travel with them or pack them!