10 days left and new boots

We're almost there. Almost ready to travel and then suddenly I find new information about what to wear and how important boots are. Guess that means a repacking of the suitcases again and another shopping trip. I've never been a gal to wear boots. Even in the winter!

I thought I had spent more than enough hours gleaning information about what was appropriate and practical to wear in Ethiopia only to have those hours crushed in minutes by updated great information. Somewhere I read that it's best to dress modestly and in skirts or dresses so I cleaned out my mom's supply of skirts and diligently packed them along with matching tops of my own. The glitch came when I tried to pair up shoes. I've never worn a skirt or dress with anything but pumps, or slingback sandals, and so when thinking about the Ethiopian rainy season I went shopping for flats/tennis shoes that were somewhat waterproof, but not looking like hiking boots. Then the next thought was what do I wear with the flats (socks, panty hose, no hose). I honestly couldn't grab hold of the thought of wearing a skirt, tennis shoes and socks. Can you see how my mind was going crazy?

There has to be more important things for me to worry about right now. Then my friend Debbie said that a group who had just came back from Ethiopia had worn khakis, long capri pants and rain boots. Well yippee. I'm going to be able to wear what I'm normally comfortable in after all. Are you kidding me? Where did I miss that chapter in the "everything you need to know about adoption book".

This means I'm going to have to repack and also return the skirts to Mom. Then the new life or death question popped into my brain.........what shoes am I going to wear now in the mud and rain? No problem, I went to the local tractor supply store and found the cutest rain boots ever. These are going to work great with all my outfits and be very practical too. I can wash and wear them and they'll take up far less room than what I previously had packed.

Tomorrow morning we have a conference call with our agency and I'm guessing 'what to wear' will come up during this time. It's nice to know I've worked through the scenarios and will hopefully repack before she gives me new clothing suggestions. I don't think I've EVER worried this much about what to wear.

Debbie also gave me some other packing tips.....all of which I have done the opposite. She said:
1) If you're taking diapers-take them out of the package and use them to pack around and protect other items in the case. *I had put the entire pack in one case.
2) If you're taking snacks-take them out of the store boxes and packaging to save room. * I thought they'd crush easier that way, so I had them all stacked in their nice little (big) boxes.
3) Put some of each person's clothing in different cases so if a case gets lost you have items in one of the other cases. *Nope, I have a separate case for each person and one for the orphanage. No mixing of items here.
4) Make up ziplock bags of Joseph's clothes for the trip home. (ie, one shirt, pants, socks, diaper) in each ziplock baggie so then if he has an accident on the plane all you have to do is grab the ziplock and the baby wipes, go to the restroom and change him, and stuff the dirty items in the ziplock. No need taking the entire carry-on bag to the 2' x 3' airplane restroom. *I would have had the carry-on filled to the gills, but nothing would have been close to a ziplock baggie.

The question then entered my brain. First of all, how did Debbie become so smart about these facts. Secondly, we've traveled a lot with the kids and had excellent luck on every trip. How did someone with my lack of packing savvy ever survive with kids?

Oh well, I'll be hoping that this packing saga is coming to an end soon. The only bad news is Eric hasn't started yet and I'm not that excited about his size 13 shoes/boots ending up in my case.