Packing changes, what to carry, success, eating – or not

I had to change some plans last night when I learned that we have a very brief layover in Houston on our way to Honduras. The thought of each of us towing a carry-on bag, our personal item and Mama with her walker. her C-PAP, her carry-on bag and her personal item, did not conjure up a very good image in my mind. The fact that all our bags are stuffed to the point of bursting added to my concerns. So, I added a checked bad to the mix. The cost of a second checked bag is not prohibitive; not nearly the cost of an overweight bag. Eliminating the one carry-on will make it a bit easier for all of us – especially Mama. In the rearrangement, I will keep my carry-on bag and Mama’s items will go into the second checked bag. That will ease our load as we sprint to make our connection in Houston. Hopefully, Mama’s walker will be a clue to airport staff that we could use the extra help in that transit. Mama will make the final packing changes this morning. By this evening, all the bags should be loaded in the Sequoia; ready for an early morning departure to the airport.

We all consolidated wallets and purses for the trip. Leaving behind all the extraneous items we carry on our person for no apparent reason. When I was taking credit and debit cards out of my walled to pare it down, I was asking myself why I have some of those items with me in the first place. Items like, my Chico Library card. My OSHA 10and 30 Instructor’s Card. My Ag and Timber registration Card. I set aside my Costco card, my Sam’s card, both of my debit cards, my AAA card, several store rewards cards, etc. I am thinking about not putting several of those items back into my wallet upon my return. For the moment, they are all in a spare wallet in our safe. That way I know where to find everything when I do get back.

I was able to find the one piece of information I needed to make the wire transfer for the purchase of our home in Lawton. I finally nailed down the month I would have received that information and searched through my sent emails looking for some correspondence in that time frame. In that search I came across a note I sent to the bank when I was having trouble getting logged into their secure remote portal. In that correspondence, I came across the email with all the remote access instructions – including my PIN for wire transfers. Praise the Lord! I was thinking worst case scenario, they would have to snail mail me a new PIN and we would close in December. That did not have to happen. So, we will close on the 26^th as originally planned. Mama and I are praying that the house is not in need of too much repair and that we will be able to sell it quickly.

I was nauseated all day yesterday. Not to the point of throwing up, but still uncomfortable. So, at the dinner last night, I ate very little. I do not feel as queasy this morning. So perhaps the worst is over. Mama and Victoria were both complaining about being too full as we rode home last night. I did not have that complaint. Perhaps being a little on the sick side was not a bad thing. Too bad that is what it takes to make me eat a proper amount of food. One of the concerns I have about this trip is what we will eat – or rather, how much we will eat. For some reason, when we eat out (actually paying for food) we are far too temped to overeat. I do not know how often we will go out for meals, but there is always the tendency to indulge. Just to make it worth the price of the meal and the tip.  Doing so here in our customary setting can be upsetting to our bellies. Doing so on foreign soil can be catastrophic intestinally. Mama and I will have to be very careful. We will enjoy what we can and avoid the tendency to over indulge in any area. It is not like this will be our one-and-only trip to Honduras.

It will be nice to find out what we can really look forward to the next time we go.