Things I learned last week

You might have noticed that I read and commented even less than usual last week. The reason for this was my trip to my parents. As you know, “Reisen bildet.” (Travel gives you an education.), and so I present you with the things I learned through that trip.

1. When your taxes are due to file in the week when you’re away it might be a good idea to do the taxes slightly earlier than the day before you have to leave.
2. When you finish your taxes the afternoon before you have to leave it’s not a good idea to think, “I’ll just put together my new desk chair before I pack.”
3. It’s a good thing to have all the clothes laundered before leaving.
4. It’s also a very good thing to lay out everything you want to take with you in advance, and pack the bags the day before.
5. When you have washed and dried and laid out the only pair of jeans that currently fits you and, upon putting them on, you think, “These jeans are awfully tight, I can’t have gained that much since Tuesday.” it might be a good idea to check if these are indeed the pants you intended to wear instead of the other pair that’s a size too small.
6. If since last year you have gained weight enough to need bigger pants you might also consider to buy new pantyhose for the skirt you brought.
7. When you decide not to take your bathing suit this time because you haven’t needed it the last thirty times that you visited your parents, this will be the time you’ll go and do aqua fitness with your mother for the first time ever. (In a bathing suit borrowed from her that while being the right size (she had three sizes to choose from) might be suiting a, well, slightly different fashion sense.)
8. When you go on a thirty minute hike with your child, and your child has spent some time playing in the sandbox beforehand it might be a good idea to empty said child’s shoes before going on the hike, not after. The hike will be much more pleasurable for all parties involved.
9. When you’re staying in the middle of nowhere for a week it’s a good thing to stack up on sock wool beforehand. Especially since the middle of nowhere doesn’t contain a yarn shop.
10. When you’re visiting smokers who think that a slight draught in all rooms is the best way to make sure that the rooms don’t reek of smoke, it’s a good idea to take an extra layer of clothing or two.
11. When somebody pays for highspeed and wireless internet access it doesn’t mean that any of those have to work. You might have to fall back on stealing bandwidth from a neighbor so you can at least check your e-mail.

I’ll resume regular blogging shortly (I hope), also I will be reading your blogs in the course of the next week…