Why does it take so long to prepare for a vacation

I've been packing since last weekend, and I'm still feeling like I'm getting everything done at the last minute! Of course it doesn't help that I've been feeling sad this week because our cat, Isabelle, died Monday morning. She was a crabby old lady, at 15 years old, but it was still a surprise that she died so quickly. I'm glad that it didn't happen while we were in Alaska -- I would have been even more sad.

Advance preparations

It is July 29th, 2009 and we are in the middle of preparing for our trip to Alaska. We are all very excited and looking forward to 3 weeks away from the heat of Austin. I just heard that it is hitting 100 degrees in Seattle, so we hope the heatwave ends before we get there at the end of our trip!