11 days to go .... and decisions to make
Less than two weeks to go before Ewan and I squeeze the last essential item into our luggage and head for the airport. We will be enroute to Italy for 6 weeks of doing the 'Grand Tour' of Italy, just as the ladies and gentlemen of Europe were wont to do decades ago.
Forget the crinolines and knee britches: it's sturdy comfy shoes, shorts, sunscreen and T-shirts for us! Farewell to the lousy Melbourne winter, the icy winds and the drizzle: we're off to experience Autumn in Italy.
The big questions at the moment are:
1.How will I manage to last another 5 days at work? In summary: motivation zero, expectations high, care factor zero, burnout level high.
2.What do I need to say to poor Richard who will be filling my shoes for the next few weeks? (On second thoughts if he does too good a job I might find myself jobless on my return!?).
It's not a lot to ask: he only has to cut $200k from the budget without reducing services, and get us through accreditation, and move my office, and make sure Mark and Michael keep the buildings standing and keep Natalie under control with her hand hygiene emails and........on second thoughts it is a lot to ask! (Thanks Richard).
3. What to pack and not to pack? How many pairs of shoes does a girl need to traverse the wilds of Italy and attend a Conference in Brighton in the middle of it? Most importantly how much space does a girl need to leave in her bag to accommodate the odd purchase or two....or three....or four....?.
4. How many parties can we expect the girls to have whilst we are away? And more importantly will they clean up before we arrive home?
Forget the crinolines and knee britches: it's sturdy comfy shoes, shorts, sunscreen and T-shirts for us! Farewell to the lousy Melbourne winter, the icy winds and the drizzle: we're off to experience Autumn in Italy.
The big questions at the moment are:
1.How will I manage to last another 5 days at work? In summary: motivation zero, expectations high, care factor zero, burnout level high.
2.What do I need to say to poor Richard who will be filling my shoes for the next few weeks? (On second thoughts if he does too good a job I might find myself jobless on my return!?).
It's not a lot to ask: he only has to cut $200k from the budget without reducing services, and get us through accreditation, and move my office, and make sure Mark and Michael keep the buildings standing and keep Natalie under control with her hand hygiene emails and........on second thoughts it is a lot to ask! (Thanks Richard).
3. What to pack and not to pack? How many pairs of shoes does a girl need to traverse the wilds of Italy and attend a Conference in Brighton in the middle of it? Most importantly how much space does a girl need to leave in her bag to accommodate the odd purchase or two....or three....or four....?.
4. How many parties can we expect the girls to have whilst we are away? And more importantly will they clean up before we arrive home?
5. Will the dogs survive? I don't care but I thought one of these questions should come from Ewan as he is the travel partner. Last time we went away we returned to find Gracie ( the stupid beagle: hang on they're both stupid!) to be a shadow of her former self: Lauren had implemented a Weightwatchers for Dog plan and Gracie was positively svelte. It lasted about two weeks post our return : Ewan had to overcome his feelings of guilt about leaving the dog behind by making up for it with copious unhealthy treats.
6. Will Mum and Dad survive without me bossing them around for 6 weeks? Brother Glenn I bestow on you the honour of being named "the bossy one" during my absence .
That about takes care of the burning issues so far.
Roll on the 4th September!
your impatient traveler-to-be
Dianne
No comments:
Post a Comment