Overwhelmed

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. Have I mentioned that C is in Spain? Mr. One-week-is-plenty-of-time-to-prepare-for-N-so-let's-not-jump-the-gun isn't actually here to help do it. I know that he didn't have any say in the matter (he really needed to go to Spain), but I could really use him here this week.

Not only is the house a mess, but her nursery still has stuff in it that needs to be moved. I may just leave that as an assignment for him. He doesn't have to put it all in the attic right now, but it needs to be moved to the room that will be her playroom at some point but isn't yet. A room that has French doors that can be closed against a wandering toddler.

My kitchen looks more or less like my living room, and all this stuff that is out has to get put away someplace. I never fully unpacked from the last trip, so the master bedroom isn't too hot on one side. Luckily, it is pretty large and I have been able to just shove stuff against one wall until I am ready to deal with it.

The other thing about him not going is the packing. If he were going with me, I could take and also handle more luggage. As it is, I am trying to do this with one medium-large checked bag, one rolling carry-on, and my backpack. I don't know if I will make it or not. The rolling carry-on is full of N's clothing, a teether, a small Cheerios container, and her toiletries/meds. My new Ergo and Hotsling are in the outer zippered compartment. I will put a day's worth of clothing on top of it all for myself. The rest of her stuff, including clothing, premium American diapers for the trip home, wipes, bottles and bottle liners, toys, and some food, are all in the medium-large checked bag. I have a very large bag I could take and check...we have two super-size bags we used when we lived in Holland years ago. But unless it is filled with mostly clothing or partially empty, it will get heavy fast and not make it past Aeroflot's weight limit. Not to mention that it may not fit in Oksana's trunk and she will be picking me up in Samara.

The backpack will have paperwork, the laptop, the camcorder, a ball of sock yarn (that is all the knitting I am taking with me), misc stuff for the flight for me like my music and inflatable pillow, and I'll probably put my toiletries in it along with any other mish-mash I can get in it. I'm a little worried about the weight on the way from Moscow to Samara without N. Monday I will be taking an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Samara and the weight limits on that are low...40 lbs of total checked luggage and I have to check both rolling bags. The formula and baby food is heavy. I'm debating not taking more than two little baby foods and one can of formula with me and buying stuff there. The baby food I was planning to take was mostly for the flight home, but I think I will just buy food for the flight home in Russia. They have Gerber and other brands I recognized at the grocery store near our hotel.

Once I get N, I will be allowed another checked bag and another carry-on, at least for the KLM flights home. Not sure what the Aeroflot rules are for a lap baby and I will have her going from Samara to Moscow. I was planning to take a soft tote that I can check on the way home, but it will take up space on the way there. I am planning to buy some souvenirs and I can put light clothing in the soft tote for the trip home. I can use a cart at the airport until I check in some of my luggage. I can easily handle two rolling bags and a backpack as long as N agrees to the Ergo. Let's all cross our fingers about that. I know the Moscow airport has luggage carts at the curb, so if I need to, I will use one.

I'm just feeling a bit...overwhelmed right now. I'm an experienced traveller and if this was just packing for me, I'd be set. In fact, I wouldn't even pack until tomorrow night. But packing all this baby stuff has got me really wondering. I think I need to go get the scale and see how much this stuff weighs right now.

And yes, I am up all night on purpose. I stayed up all night last night and slept until 2. I want to try to get on Moscow time (or at least close) before I board my flight Saturday. It's 5:30 am right now in Texas....2:30 pm in Moscow. I'm going to try to hang on until around noon, which will be 9 pm Moscow time. If I make it until 10 am, I will consider that good...and I also need to stay awake long enough for Fed Ex to get here. I am hand-carrying some apostilles for other families into Samara and that is going to arrive today. Hopefully this morning. The bad thing is that if I sleep from noon until 8 or so, I will probably miss C's daily call. I've never gone two days without talking to him and we will both be travelling Saturday, so who knows if we will hook up then. I guess I can just wake up for his call and go back to sleep. I'd like to stay up again tomorrow night and stay up until I get on the plane at 1:00 Saturday afternoon, at which point I can pass out.

And now I need to get motivated to tackle this mess. I still have tomorrow night, too. So it doesn't all have to be done right now, but I'd like to at least see progress, I haven't felt all day like I've made any progress at all. I still need to get out the screwdriver and baby proof the kitchen and bathrooms. Let's see if I am awake enough to operate minor power tools.