Seriously Bouncing Off the Walls

We are officially 15 days from leaving on a jet plane to Ireland. At this point, I can barely contain myself!! I have resisted the urge to pack, though my suitcase is at the end of my bed and I have stacks of things around my room and on my desk that are specifically for our trip. The other day, I received our Baggu bags for the flight and Jillian's passport FINALLY arrived in the mail. Over Messenger, Aidan and I decided on the dress I will be wearing to the wedding -- funny, after all I tried on in stores and even one I had shipped here from the internet, the winner happens to be something already hanging in my closet.

My random-need-to-kill-time-Pinterest-searches-because-all-I-can-think-about-is-going-to-see-Aidan have changed from Irish towns and landscapes to tips for packing for time abroad to now tips and tricks for overcoming jet lag. Granted I have traveled to Europe before, and jet lag, though a drag, has never totally kicked my arse. But this trip is a little different because the wedding we're attending is RIGHT after we arrive -- as in the very next day. It's bad enough that my sweet Aidan has to see me half dead (won't be the first time; when I arrived on his doorstep in NC, I had been awake over 24 hours and had driven 12 hours to get there!) but I will be meeting his family and friends, too! Yikes! I can only hope they are as understanding as he is about a sleep deprived girlfriend. (And poor Jillian - she's not going to the wedding, but she's cranky if she misses a couple hours of sleep. Jet lag and being thrown off 5 hours? Give that girl a pillow and a place to lay down!)

I have given up on my big plans of cleaning out the basement before I leave for the summer, and I'm crossing my fingers that I find time to have a yard sale in the next two weeks. Two weeks. HOLY MOLY we are leaving in JUST over two weeks!!!! I get these waves of realization every once in awhile. Sometimes it's real to me, and other times I think I'm dreaming it all.

I took a painting job for extra money last week, a job that should have taken me a day and a half to do -- ended up four days long. What a fiasco that was. I'm glad it's over, but I don't want to see a paintbrush for a while!! Another pre-Ireland project I'd planned was at least painting the doors and trim in my bedroom, after all I have a sweet Irishman coming home with me in August. I hope he can overlook the parts of my house that didn't get painted yet.

And then there's the wellies. Remember my beloved green wellies I found on eBay some months ago, that I happily purchased for this trip to the Emerald Isle? Well as soon as I lay them in the bottom of my
suitcase, it occurred to me that 1) they are way bigger than I thought, and 2) they are REALLY quite heavy. I got to thinking that I might be wearing them over on the plane. Then, I stumbled upon a blog written by a girl who was living abroad in England, and she was ranting and raving about her wonderful Hunter wellies -- which are (drum roll please....) PACKABLE and LIGHT WEIGHT! What???? Seriously?? They roll up small and pack very easily! And she swears they are way more comfortable than the original! Well snap. What now??? I want some!! (hear me whine!) But God knows I can't afford to spend more moolah on yet another pair of imported expensive boots. So back to eBay I went -- listed my green wellies for sale, and waited. If they sell, I told myself, I'll buy a packable pair of Hunter Tour wellies. If they don't sell, I'll probably wear them on the plane. Guess what? They sold.

Now. That should be an easy fix, right? Wrong. I was now once again faced with an array of colors to choose from, and the fact that the new Tour boots are more than double what I paid and sold my wellies for. Over a few obsessive hours, I poured over websites, eBay, coupons, rebates, you name it -- trying to find a good price on a pair and in a color I fancy. I was seriously distraught over color. I was happy with the green ones, granted green is my favorite color -- but they happened to be the most affordable I could find as well so it was a given. Well NOW I might get stuck paying more, so if I have to pay top (or nearly top) dollar, I should really put my heart and soul into choosing the right color. Don't even get me started on the time it's taken to get through this nightmare. I had first decided on black because black goes with everything and I can wear them with black leggings whether it's raining or not -- just as cool black boots. But then I got to really thinking about black and summer .... and about bright happy colors and me liking to be whimsical. Finally I decided on yellow. Besides, yellow is a color that is currently marked down on the Hunter website, anyway. :-) What a crazy ordeal I got myself
into.

THEN as if that wasn't enough. My sneakers (or trainers as Aidan calls them) are really worn out. I have two pair. One are filthy and the other have holes. Neither are appropriate for a summer away. So I once again have been pouring over eBay and store websites trying to decide on a pair of Nikes. My brother is the go-to guy for Nike, and I've called and texted him a dozen times in the last few days with pictures of shoes, hoping to be shoved in the right direction.

This all seems so ridiculously messed up, doesn't it? Half the time it will hit me, how insane this worry is, and I'll sit back in my chair and ask myself if this shoe thing is really going to matter at all once I get to Ireland and into the arms of my true love. Seriously. The style of my Nikes and the color of my wellies have absolutely nothing to do with my crazy love for Aidan and how much we missed each other, and what an amazing time we will have finally being together after all these months!!!! SHOES. Geez!! What is wrong with my head?????

You know what's wrong? I just cannot focus on anything that doesn't have to do with Aidan or our trip to Ireland. I know that sounds awful, I should be way better at multitasking and I normally am --- but this distance between us has gotten to me and we are only a few days away from leaving and I just want to be doing SOMETHING -- ANYTHING --- that has to do with heading to Ireland to be with Aidan. And if I can stare at six different colors of wellies or drive my brother nuts about Nikes to kill time before I can actually start packing, then so be it.

Soooo, yes I am going totally crazy. I am a blabbering idiot these days!! I interrupt myself, I can't think straight, I forget why I walk into rooms ... I drive through town running errands with the widest, silliest grin across my face because all I can think about is walking off that plane in Dublin and running into the arms of that sweet, loving Irishman of mine. FIFTEEN DAYS!!!!!!!! <3