Yikes.....one week from tonight.....I'll be sitting on a plane over the ocean heading towards Italy.  I like to travel....I'm not so hot on flying.  Secured in a metal tube 30,000 feet up in the air...sounds unreasonable.  If I could sit with the pilots....(to make sure they were doing a good job) perhaps I could relax....but someone's got to keep that baby up.....so I figure it's my job to sit there and think positive and encouraging thoughts towards the steel tube remaining in the air.  For once, I would like to sleep.  On other transatlantic flights I've been on....I'm jealous of those folks who turn out their reading light at 8pm and sleep till morning.  How do folks do that?  Usually the whole dang plane is asleep and there's me...with my little light on...or leaning against the window....counting sheep or stars or whatever is around.  I wish I could be soooo relaxed....that I could simply nod off. Maybe this year I'll be lucky and catch a few hours of shut eye....I'm bringing a little pillow....and hoping to buy a nice small bottle of wine to help me achieve the zzzz state.

I started packing tonight....I have so many other things to do....(bank, kids' list, getting electronics ready) that I thought I might start early.  So far....I'm packed for Rome....but not Israel.  I haven't figured out what to wear....are Capri pants okay in Jerusalem?  shorts?  Once I'm in the desert...I figure shorts and a top are fine...who's going to see me? who's going to care?...I goggled the temperature in Eliat, Israel today and it was 104 degrees.  Ouch.  I can only imagine Petra is in the same weather zone even though it's two hours away.  It makes me swoon just to think about how many water bottles I might have to bring along.  I've read online some folks bring umbrellas to shade themselves against the desert sun.  Hmmmm....I don't know about that....but I'm thinking on it.  Having crossed the Sahara....I know how dehydrated and dangerous heat can be very quickly....it doesn't matter it's a popular trail filled with people....it's just your body cooking in the sun.


Ugh...I just thought of another thing to add to my to-do list...I should download a couple of e-books....but hmmmm which ones?