Last days of Summer

I only have a week and a half until I board a plane to Peru!  AND there is only a week and a half until school starts! AHHH!!!  There is just not enough time.  I have so much to do in the next week and a half and I also want to spend time with Josh, the kids, and friends trying to eek out the last moments of summer - going to the pool, grilling out, play dates, sleepovers, etc..  Josh tells me not to worry about preparing too much for the kids to go to school, but I am used to being the supervisor of the house and overseer of all things school-related and it makes me anxious not to know if everything has been taken care of here while I am away.  Josh is not one to enlist other's help too much, so he has taken most of the week I am gone off from work.  I tried to talk him into letting me find more people to help, but I think he wants to be with the kids, since I can't be.  He is a great dad, so I am sure they will all be fine.  

My biggest struggle with packing is that I am trying to figure out how to pack gifts for my sponsored child,  his family, the church that facilitates his program, and a friend's sponsored child (that I am SO happy to be able to deliver for them!), without having to pay to check an almost empty suitcase on the way back or letting the things get crushed in a collapsible bag.  I am sure I will be getting souvenirs there, but I don't think it will be an entire suitcase worth, so I am probably going to use a collapsible bag and just pack my clothes in it until I get there, then I will rearrange everything to give the gifts once I arrive - hopefully with all of my bags!  I have always been a heavy packer.  I always want to prepare for the unexpected, so trying to pack for a trip that I don't really know what to expect is making me crazy!  It is hard to believe that in three weeks I will be back on American soil and that I will have met Elias, my sponsored child, and my long awaited trip will be something I have already done.  I hope to post updates from the hotel while I am in Peru, so you will hopefully get a current report of how my trip is going.