Suitcase

Slowly starting to get my head around the fact that I actually need to pack, make lists and do the passport/purse/phone check (about twenty times).  I did have a very bad experience once when we drove to Dover at 4:30am to catch a ferry to France for our annual Easter holiday in Provence.  I was so chuffed that I had managed to get my fifty page Arts Council application finished and posted the day before, that I was not thinking straight.

I do remember watering the plants at 4:00am before we left. Then the long drive to Dover. Then the sight of the Euro flag at the entrance to the ferry - Passport Control.  I could see in my mind's eye - my passport very clearly lying in the desk drawer back in Oxford.  Of course it was a complete disaster, and The Accountant called me many four-letter words, my friends were more patient, although I did end up having to buy everyone a very expensive lunch on the ferry to make up for the inconvenience. But that was six hours later.

There was not much cheeful banter on the way down to France that year. I think The Accountant waited a whole day and a half before he spoke to me. So ever since, I check for my passport and purse like something demented.  This time however, I won't have to count the number of nappies needed on the flight. Or dummies, or books, or toys, or Power Rangers.....