Preparing for the Journey, T minus 2 Days

Well, it is very early Thursday morning and we have been shifting our hours to match Australian time. At this point we need to stay up until at least 7am, but it is UGLY trying to stay up during the wee hours! :) The rest of the world is asleep and the TV is saturated with infomercials and Kevin Costner movies. Between laundry loads I was cleaning the basement until the mountains of dust overwhelmed my lungs. Connie is working on "projects" between her own cleaning jags. Slowly the bags we plan to take on our trip are filling up. A pair of blue jeans from one laundry load, the converter from our last trip rediscovered while cleaning the den -- we slowly push forward our preparations for the Saturday AM departure. Every item is debated over before being added to Connie's premiere luggage. We are aiming for only one checked bag each, but it is a struggle. I want all my dive gear, but that is more than an entire bag by itself. Camera gear also needs consolidation and consideration. We will be gone a month -- a month spent traveling from equator to the edge of the Antarctic Ocean and back. This is going to be so cool! Right now, though, our goal is to just stay awake...