The List

I'm getting on a plane in the morning, heading to the Bay Area for work. I will be on my own in a nice hotel with all the amenities, in a rather nice part of town. I will spend my mornings and afternoons with my subject, and write or research or read or wander the rest of the time. I imagine going to the movies on my own, and sitting on the waterfront daydreaming. But first, I have to punch through today's To Do list.

1. Send contract: I did manage to email the contract letter for the editorial consulting job I got hired for this week. Freelancing is an exercise in faith that the next job will show up. This week, one did. Hallelujah.

2. Fedex documents: A few minutes ago, I finally put together the Fedex packet to be sent to St. Lucia, with all the notarized documents pertaining to the renting of my mother's house. My husband will send it off for me tomorrow, since I couldn't manage to send it myself all last week, despite the fact that I got it together enough to go get all the paperwork notarized and ready to go one week ago. God bless that man.

3. Do laundry: I called the hotel just now and learned that they have a washer and dryer on every floor with detergent and fabric softener provided so guests can do loads of laundry if they choose. Guess what I'm choosing? One more thing I can strike off today's list. Don't judge me.

4. Pack: Oooooohhh, I hate packing. Can anyone explain why that might be? It doesn't seem rational how much I hate packing, or the anxiety it provokes in me.

5. Get grapes, strawberries, cheese, crackers and flowers. Gelato for dessert: Some of my women friends are getting together for a pot luck of light fare this evening. Guess what? While I was typing this my husband texted me from the supermarket asking what I needed for the pot luck because he could pick it up for me. Lord, I love that man.

6. Touch up toenail polish: I got the same red color that is currently on my nails but chipped in places, and I proceeded to dab at the imperfections. My feet look like I was attacked. Oh well, break out the nail polish remover. Oh wait, we don't have any in the house. Texted my husband at the store to add that to the list. He did.

7. Get estimate and schedule electrician: We had a mix up with an air conditioner installation this week. The unit was beautifully installed before we realized it was the wrong voltage, so now we need to have an electrician change one of the wall outlets to 220 volts. This requires running many feet of wire through the walls, but not, thankfully, breaking any walls. This list item I did in full, including leaving the check for the electrician which my sainted husband will deliver to him tomorrow.

My husband will be on his own this week, as my son is away teaching and certifying lifeguards for camp this week, our daughter is still in Rome, and I will be on the West Coast. Given the penchant my list has for bleeding onto my husband, it's a safe bet he's looking forward to the solitude!