I’m a last minute packer. Throughout the week before a trip, I’ll collect things in piles to take, but the suitcase won’t come out until the night before I leave. Clothes are then pulled fresh from the dryer, and hastily tucked away. The carry on pile grows until I need four arms to carry it all. Yet with this method, or despite it, I rarely forget something important.

The only thing that regularly gets left behind is my toothbrush. It’s one of those things I can’t pack until the last second because I want to use it in the morning before I leave. Like I said before, tooth brushing is a mindless activity. So once the teeth are pearly white, the hand automatically drops it back in its holder, to be left behind once again. Thank goodness for a Walmart in almost every city to save everyone around me from morning breath!

So here I am, putting off packing by blogging. It’s the night before I leave. The suitcase is open on the bed. The piles are surrounding me. I can hear the washer in the background furiously churning to clean my clothes in time. Tomorrow I jump on a plane headed to my-not-so-favorite city to attend the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) convention. It’ll be huge; it’ll be overwhelming, but I’m excited! After hearing about it for years, I’m ready to go and participate! Only 8 hours left until I have to leave for the airport. And so the countdown and packing begins!

Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies I made for the trip!