A flurry of activity

I think I may have forgotten to mention that I'm leaving for a trip to Germany and France on Wednesday. Brian has a work trip at the Nuerburgring (a humongous race track) in Germany. He left yesterday and I'm going to meet him on Wednesday. The way the track works he is, get this, NOT ALLOWED TO WORK from Friday noon till Tuesday morning. During the week he tests and calibrates cars on the ring, but on the weekend, the place is booked with real races. He isn't even able to stay in the hotel there over the weekend because it is full up with people coming to the races.

So this is an enforced vacation weekend and rather than leave him to explore on his own, I am going to join him. I leave on Wednesday evening and fly back Tuesday morning so that is 5 full days in Europe. It also helps in the justification that Brian's birthday is Friday (which we plan to celebrate at "the highest beer garden in Trier") and we just passed our 6th wedding anniversary so we can wrap a whole bunch of celebrating into one trip.

We plan to leave the ring on Friday and go to Trier, then two days in Strasbourg (where Brian has been many times, again, on work trips) and then one day in Heidelberg before I fly back. He stays at the ring for the rest of the week. It has been so damn long since I've been to Europe--the old pre-Euro days--and I've never been to this part of Germany or France.

I'm a little nervous, not about the travel, but because this will be the first time I'm away from the kids for more than two nights in 5.5 years! The grannies are teaming up to care for them and the kids will probably be in high heaven while I'm gone, getting away with murder and allowed to eat pizza for dinner every night. I know day 1 and 2 will feel terrific--I'm even looking forward to an 8 hour flight in Coach class because that means lots of time to read and knit. But I am fully prepared to freak out on day 3 and miss my critters so much that I won't be able to breathe.

Don't I sound like a fun person to travel with? Oy....Hopefully Brian and I will still remember how to function as a couple without our usual two small human appendages.

I'm trying to channel my anticipated anxiety into useful actions before leaving--doesn't one have to clean out the freezer and sort through the kids' outgrown toys and clothes before leaving? At least I am not alone in this flurry of activity. On Saturday Brian (who is usually is the clear winner in the sanity department in our marriage) decided that the basement had to be cleaned out before he left, because you know you can't enjoy Europe with a dirty basement at home. He also went through about 5 years worth of old paid bills and account statements and shredded so much paper that the shredder was smoking. So maybe there is a neurotic soul hiding under that Dude-like mellow exterior.

I should be doing a little research on the web about what one should not miss in the specific locations we are visiting (besides my obvious desire to eat everything yummy and peruse available yarn), but I gotta go clean out that freezer...