Taking off.

STILL no car! That Hyundai had better run like a top after two weeks in the shop! I crammed my errand-running into two days this week, and now today I'm relaxing at home and doing the laundry so I can get my suitcase packed.

We are going to Columbus, OH for a few days to attend our nephew Angelo's First Communion. I'm so excited to see him and our niece Gianna and both of my sisters-in-law, and hopefully we'll have time to visit a couple of our favorite haunts from the days when we used to live there, which seem so long ago now (six years.)

Todd and I are sharing the big suitcase so we only have to check one bag--do you think we can get four days' worth of clothes and shoes for two people into one bag? I'm dubious. Not because of him, but because of me. Just the shoes alone--sneakers, casual, dress, and maybe sandals?--will fill half the bag. I try so hard to pack light, but I always feel like I have to cover every contingency...dress-up clothes, of course, but then you need long-sleeves, short-sleeves, a jacket, jeans, comfy pants, maybe something semi-dressy in case you go out...before you know it you have a stack of outfits and no room in the bag.

I am far from being a clotheshorse, and maybe that's the problem. I'm indecisive and insecure about my clothes, and the dress code in Columbus is way more upscale than here in this grungy city. I actually kind of like living here because at any given moment on the average street corner or shopping center, I'm one of the best-dressed people in sight, with no more effort than throwing on nice-ish jeans and a long-sleeve tee. That absolutely never happened in Columbus! I always felt like a hobo in Columbus. Part of the reason I feel I could never visit New York is that my crappy clothes would immediately mark me as a tourist and between the outraged fashionistas and the muggers, I'd never get out alive.

I guess there's something to be said for living in a place with lowered expectations. It's a lot less pressure, that's for sure.

Off to polish my shoes and pack some jewelry and make-up. It's good to raise my standards every so often!