Packing and Unpacking

I love packing for trips. Carefully picking outfits for each day your gone. Making a list of everything you need. Toothbrush? Check! Books for the car? Check! Hundreds of thousands of bibs for drooling baby? Check! I love the folding of the clothes and then neatly placing them in your suitcase, tucking everything all snug. Fitting it all into the back of the car just so, like a game of Tetris. I especially love the packing of the snack bag with all its special "car food" - the sandwich halves, the crackers, the fun drinks and other assorted varieties of deliciousness. Flavors are always boosted when eating food in the car on a road trip. Or in the car period. Tim always teases me because when we go to the grocery store I always have to open something in the car to eat on the way home. This whole concept of not waiting till you get home to break into the snacks was new to him, and I think he thought was weird at first, but is now warming up to this awesome tradition.

That all said, I have the exact opposite feelings about coming home and unpacking. Packing to leave for home never involves careful consideration for me - it's mostly just an annoying hassle where clothes get thrown into the suitcase haphazardly, all crumpled and shoved in there, and they usually stay "packed" for at least a week after returning home. The drive home is also never exciting and more of a drag. The only thing to look forward to is passing the jail - which gives me the same thrill as passing an Amish buggy on the road. The anticipation builds as soon as I see those orange balls on the phone wires and the signs that read "Correctional Facility Area. Do Not Pick up Hitchhikers" as I'm always hopeful the prisoners will be out in the yard. Since it's winter, my chances are slim. These are the things that keep my life interesting - prisoner and amish sightings.