T-1 day - Packing Day

Today began as any other with Kimbra and I rushing to get the kids up, fed, and dressed. We had prepared a list of to do items for today and armed with a plan in hand we began our second to last full day before jetting off to the other side of the world.


Kimbra and I discovered today that when your stress level rises everything and I do mean everything takes longer. For example, simply getting a picture printed out at Wal-Mart took 3 visits to the retail mammoth.

trip one: before work, cd the file was saved on would not work
trip two: during lunch, picture printed but had dust spots not noticed on computer
trip three: after work, finally made it out of the belly of the beast with the desired gem


Now in Levelland this is only a 15 minute round trip including time in the store, but still when every minute counts even the smallest of disruptions can throw you off your game plan. So by 8:00 I was already feeling the stress of lost time when I got word that the college were Kimbra works got a bomb threat! Are you serious, in Levelland? This must be a joke. Nope, no joke, the campus was evacuated and the buildings targeted were searched. Suddenly I snap back to the realization that life is so much bigger than a few wasted minutes fighting with a picture vending machine in the heart of Wal-Mart. I realized that while things seem to be out of kilter it could always be worse. So I thanked God for keeping my wife safe and went on with my day.


Finally getting home and getting the kids in bed, a task that can drain the life right out of you, Kimbra and I surveyed the task that lay before us for the evening, PACKING. Suddenly, with clothes scattered across the living room, the two suit cases we had chosen for our journey seem ed to be severely inadequate. We quickly call Russell and Krystal, who had packed over the weekend, to get encouragement and insight for getting all this into that. I am happy to report that after only two hours of ironing, folding, packing, repacking, and bagging (the process of putting clothes into large zip lock bags and squeezing the air out) we were able to get our clothes into the chosen bags. Lesson to be learned is that if you put several shirts into a 2 gallon zip lock bag and squeeze really good you can reduce the overall cubic area needed to a fraction of the original space required.


Well that's the story for today. Only one more full day left and I think we are o.k., but then again the glass is always half full with me. To update you on my father he seems to be getting better. Still not great, but maybe able to go home soon. Please continue your prayers for our family and my father as it is working. Make it a great day!

Dave