Let the games begin.

Today is the day. Twelve hours from now I will be standing in front of the China Southern airline counter at the airport with my passport in one hand and a Zanex in the other. We were at urgent care over the weekend because Jack developed a sinus and ear infection last Thursday and we had to blast it out of his system so that he could travel tonight. The doctor gave him the green light, took one look at me and prescribed some anti-anxiety medication. Actually, my husband begged her to do it.

I've never taken them so I took a half-dose test run last night to see if I could function on the flight with Jack tonight. I wasn't comfortable with the thought of possibly "checking out" and not being "present and accounted for" on a sixteen hour plane ride. Bottom line, I was able to take long, deep, breaths after about a half an hour and it scared the hell out me. One tiny little pill wiped out the acid reflux and the attention deficit disorder. I even agreed to watch a Sponge Bob rerun with Jack cuddling on the couch last night and not worrying about the fact that I still hadn't packed his things or mine. And that was a half-dose! I'm not super-proud that I resorted to this and I may actually not take one tonight. In any case, I was kind of stunned to discover how many people take these pills on a regular basis just to function. Sounds extremely addictive and I will proceed with caution.

My big dilemma right now is whether or not to pack my Scrabble game. My husband says no, because he doesn't want people in our group to see the ugly side of me. He thinks I'm a Scrabble bitch and refuses to play with me. I can't help it if six and seven letter word combinations come easily to me. He's just a sore loser. He once held me hostage in a hotel for six hours playing the game until he won a round (but that's another story.) Realistically, the little tiles could present a choking hazard to Makena so that will ultimately be the reason for leaving the board behind. I can always pack my Sudoku book.

So this is it. I'm packing the Skippy peanut butter, the antibiotic prescriptions, the swim goggles and the PSP. My camera, some cash, and my Avon-skin-so-soft. I can't think of anything else.

See you on the other side.

Isabelle
PS: This is Jack, a couple of years ago, playing his first Scrabble game. That's my boy!