Well…not quite…constipating our luggage with all the stuff (mainly stuff meant for, and asked for by, dd…darling daughter)is a difficult task.

Today I went to 9th block to get some more stuff and cursed myself for not getting the camera, because the Hanumath Jayanti (birthday of Hanuman) at the local temple was SUCH a colourful festivity, with so much junk being sold so attractively…. let’s see if I have time to do a sneak tomorrow morning!

Stuff is strewn around the 4 suitcases that we are allowed to take. With the new gel=gelignite rules, I have had to buy teensy-weensy containers for my moisturizer and contact lens solution…

We hate the idea of the actual journey, with friends giving us horror stories of London and Paris…we are taking a 2 day break in Dubai and it’s non-stop from there to JFK, thank goodness….but the thought of that aluminium tube for all those hours….WHEN can we just say, “Beam me up, Scotty!”??

The first visitor who came to bid us goodbye was welcome as a break, but the stream kept up till 10.30 pm….a three and a half hour break in packing ain’t too good!

We do this every year and every year we promise ourselves we are going to be far more organized next time…actually we ARE, it’s just that getting stuff into 4 suitcases is…tough! (poetry!!) More so this time when we are visiting New England in the dead winter…warm clothes bulk up those boxes! Also, attending a wedding means that some fine feathers have to be included. Feathers can sometimes be heavy…

One neighbout asked us if we had our Dharma underwear, he had heard that it was good for the extreme cold. Well, I certainly hope that my husband’s Dharma, underwear or not, will keep him on the straight and narrow!

Another friend offered us “emergency food”…delicious stuff that his wife makes…but how much of an emergency could I have, staying with family…unless I have a sudden fight with them and they kick me out into the cold?

Huh, turning the three-and-a-half hours into four…I am going back to the stuffing ceremony now!