I am absolutely blown away by the fact that I have not written a single post since September.  I have a litany of excuses I could throw out, but the fact of the matter is that the dog ate my homework. Weak, I know.

In actuality, since the fall, I have been taking courses through the University of Calgary towards a certificate in Business and Technical Writing. It has taken my focus away from this website, and I'm hoping that our upcoming trip to Portugal and Spain will help me regain some focus and I can give this site some much-needed attention.

In 2 days we leave for a two-week trip, and at this point, I am feeling fairly unprepared. The last few places we have travelled involved the need for a variety of items and clothing types, and we had temporarily abandoned our 'carry-on only' rule due to the nature of those trips. This time, we must resume packing lightly or we will not be able to fit our suitcases into the trunk of our Spanish rental car! 'Full size' means very different things depending on what continent you are on.

Aside from being out of practice in packing lightly, this trip will be a bit different for us in that the weather will be slightly cooler (and potentially wetter) than we are used to when travelling in Europe. In the past, we have visited in July or August when the temperatures are guaranteed to be warm, if not hot. And while we are looking forward to pleasant springtime temperatures this trip, it does make travelling with only a carry-on a little bit trickier as we will need many more layers.

The next few days will bring a flurry of laundry and to-do lists, and I feel confident that we will walk out of our house on Friday evening with four perfectly packed bags. I look forward to the challenge!  :)