Well I finally 'put my big girl panties' on and packed. OUCH. Sure would be nice if there were a scale in the house - but there isn't - so I still have to sweat until I get to the airport to find out if I packed to well and got to much stuff in my suitcases. I am not sure I am going to be able to get everything in my last bag. I do hate packing things - guess I should quit shopping - but that would not be much fun. I managed to get 95% of my stuff packed so am really hoping I can squeeze the rest of my treasures into the last suitcase.

Of course as the time draws nearer to departure time I get more and more torn. It is so difficult to to head back to Egypt because Miles and I are slowly but surely mending fences so it is tough to leave him and head back. Of course there are others that I miss - but I do miss Miles the most - after all we were a team for a long time. Unless something crops up I am not planning on coming back to Canada until next summer. I have decided that I need to really set down some roots in Egypt. I need to learn some Egyptian - which means I need to take some classes and hang around long enough so I can get some practice before I come back and forget everything I have learned. Mom and Dad will be coming to Egypt in November for 4-5 weeks and then I think Miles and Shani will be coming over for Christmas - asked Miles on Saturday and Shani and I talked about it last night - she is really excited - going to look into tours and things they will want to do when they are over. So that means major baking - although thinking about it it does seem kind of silly to do as Miles is not a big eater of baked goods - he has his favourites and that is it - not really sure about Shani - but hey it is Christmas so will go to town. Should be a real challenge. Will have to make a shopping list and get mom and dad to bring things with them - because I am sure there will be things that are not available in Egypt.

Today is going to be a quiet day - got the packing done - have showered - laundry is on the go - should do some tidying up - make sure I have not overlooked anything.

Tomorrow the plan is to head to Banff for the day with Maurine and then I am not sure what is happening on Wednesday - after all I am now packed - what else is there to do.

In answer to one of the comments on the previous blog - Syd - you are still allowed two suitcases - but of course I have been shopping - I am sure you are much more disciplined than I am and would never buy more than you had space for. I need to make a phone call - I had phoned and talked to a representative who told me the weight limit was 35 kg - but on the website it is 23 kg - so ......