I haven't really said much about it lately, but we are leaving for vacation on MONDAY. I guess I haven't said much about it because I almost kind of forgot about it for whatever reason, and suddenly I woke up this morning excited. There is much to do to get ready:

1) Print out an itenerary for all the family so they can have one on hand in case of emergency. Of course, this will mean that our phone will ring probably every 30 minutes, if not more often, and 99.9% of the calls won't be emergencies.

2) Pack. We only have 2 suitcases, and I'm wondering how the heck I'm going to fit ALL of our clothes (particularly all of MY clothes) into one suitcase, because the other one has to go with the kids to Mamaw's house. Plus, I know I am just going to forget something, or probably several things, and we'll spend half of our vacation in Wal-mart.

3) Clean out my car truck SUV thing. I don't know why, but there's so much kids junk in there. Maybe because we have two kids. But we really don't go, go, go like a lot of moms I know do. But when we DO go, we take everything with us.

4) Get the laundry caught up. This is a near-impossible feat. I could get it all washed, dried, folded and put away on Saturday, and by Monday morning, the laundry hamper will be overflowing again...mark my word. I actually have to do this BEFORE I pack though, or else I won't have anything TO pack.

5) Make sure all the bills are paid. Nothing worse than coming back from vacation with late notices and bills out the wazoo.

6) Drop the kids and the kitty off at Mamaw's house.

7) Drop the dog off at the kennel.

8) Top off the gas tank.

Then FINALLY we will be on our way. I swear, whenever me and Michael are trying to get ourselves and the kids ready to go ANYWHERE, it's nothing but a big fight! Once we drop off everyone and get on the road, it's like "WHHHHEEEEWWWW!!!!"

Anyway, Gatlinburg will be fun. Of course, now I'm wondering why we are staying in one of those uber-nice cabins, because it's not like we're really going to have TIME to RELAX in it. After vacation, we're going to need a vacation.