The Business of Preparations

After a crazy little experience with the hotel in Athens, I'm happy to say that we have a place to rest our weary heads and to freshen up upon arrival into Athens. All together now - say it with me..."Whew!" I'm sure the collective guest registry on board is thankful that we'll be able to shower and change before boarding the ms Rotterdam as much as we are. No one wants to cruise with stinky people. :-)

Why is it that whenever you go on a trip, every little thing that has been put off to do, or accomplish, suddenly comes to the forefront and MUST be done before departure? Really, is it that important if it's been sitting for the past 6 months, unattended, to complete it before I leave for three weeks? Not likely, but somehow, I feel the need to "git 'r done". Last night is a case in point. The clothes that I've been meaning to donate for the better part of a year now finally got sorted out of my closet. Lest you think it was any easy task...think again. Three very large storage containers later and I can say that I think it's finally all sorted. Now, just to get them downstairs and to Value Village for donation - that will be the true test!

Another project that's been on the "to do" list for a long time is painting a little tiny section of the wall where it meets the ceiling. I mean, seriously - one episode of CSI:Miami and it'd be done...if I'd only start. Maybe tonight...

Back to the real preparations of the trip: A few months ago, the youth group began to develop a source of income for their various projects. Personally, I think it's a brilliant idea for youth groups to do this. Not only does it ease the burden a bit off the general fund, but more importantly, it teaches a skill set as well as valuable life skills of teamwork, management and in this particular case - creativity. The youth group at Muldoon Community Assembly is in the Silk Screening business. What a cool idea! Anyway, one of our Compadres came up with the idea that our little travel group should get T-shirts printed. It would be fun to be identified as a group, but also provide some income as well as critical multi-color process skills for the youth group. Last night, I saw the results of their hard work - and I'm impressed! These kids, with their leadership, have done a great job! We may tweak the color a tad, but other than that the printing process is ready to go. I'm excited to be able to proudly wear the design, but even more so that I can say our youth group did it! Anyone need some custom shirts printed? I know a great little print shop...