Trying to pack to go out of town is difficult. I end up having to coordinate lots of things, of course, including making sure the kids actually are bringing me their dirty clothes that they need cleaned to pack, and not just telling me that they are.

Get someone to agree to collect the mail, mow the lawn if it will need it, come in and feed the cats/scoop the boxes.

All the details.

Funny, but since I am the only one leaving town this time, you would think it would be easier. Instead, it is harder.

I have to remind the family of all the stuff they need to do, and it has to be spelled out, step by step, up to and including the menu for each day, when to clean boxes and take out trash, reminders to do everything.

Erma Bombeck once said, about the skills of the house only mom seems to know, like how to change a toilet paper roll or turn off a light switch or lower a toilet seat, something to the effect that if I have to take these things with me when I go, I'm not going! :)


Today is:

Cosmetic Bridge Day

Feast of Thoth -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (god of wisdom and magic)

Feast of Mato -- Lakota and Ogalala Sioux (Bear Spirit)

Independence Day, St. Kitts and Nevis

International Coastal Cleanup Day

International Eat An Apple Day

Jubilee of the Moth Moons -- Fairy Calendar

National Butterscotch Pudding Day

National Seat Check Saturday (Check it for what, sagging? I'm old, of course it is! Oh, make sure car seats are secured -- my kids finally outgrew those, phew.)

Navaratri -- Hindu, continues through Sept. 27

Oktoberfest Begins, Germany

Pig's Face Feast, Gloucestershire, UK

Responsible Dog Ownership Day

Rosh Hashanah -- Jewish

Scouring the White Horse, Berkshire, UK

St. Januarius' Day (patron of blood banks, Naples; against the evil eye)

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Visit a Sick Friend Today, Day

Wife Appreciation Day

World Peace Day


Birthdays Today:

Jimmy Fallon, 1974
Jim Abbot, 1967
Trisha Yearwood, 1964
Joan Lunden, 1950
Leslie "Twiggy" Lawson, 1949
Jeremy Irons, 1948
Randolph Mantooth, 1945
"Mama" Cass Elliot, 1941
Bill Medley, 1940
Paul Williams, 1940
David McCallum, 1933
Adam West, 1928
Duke Snider, 1926
Joseph Pasternak, 1901



Today in History:

The Continental Congress passes the first budget of the US, 1778
Ephraim Morris patents the railroad brake, 1838
Bond and Lassell discover Hyperion, moon of Saturn, 1848
New Zealand becomes the first country to grant all of its women the right to vote, 1893
Funeral of assassinated President William McKinley, 1901
Mickey Mouse makes his screen debut as Steamboat Willie, at the Colony Theater in NYC, 1928