Amazing, or Crazy?

Mike and I always talk about trying out for The Amazing Race...
however, not being able to leave the kids for a month prevents me from making that audition tape - that, and I need a haircut. Of course it hasn't stopped Mike from making them... (kidding, Hon!). Actually, I think we would make a really good team and might have a chance at a million dollars if we did get picked because:

• Mike has a built in GPS in his head (which anyone who has ever travelled with him knows)
  

• I have a plethora of trivial (ie:useless) information, on a variety of random topics, floating about in my head (it's just that sometimes I have a problem retrieving them...)
  

However, ultimately we wouldn't win because I'm afraid of heights, and they always make someone jump off of a building or a mountain or something, and there's only so many times they let one person do the crazy stuff.

Anyway,

I've come to the conclusion that planning our overseas odyssey is much like planning for a GIANT wedding; it's way more complicated than planning for a baby, and is almost as scary as having one, or both, for that matter. A moment of excitement comes to mind when a couple brings home their new baby for the first time, and then when the kid won't stop crying, reality hits and they wonder, "WHAT were we thinking!?" (you know you did...heck, I thought it before he even started crying...) Eventually the initial panic passes, and you get on with it.

A month of winging it in Europe is not new to me. Waaaaay back in '88, back in the old days when you didn't even have to prove who you were to get on a plane let alone walk through any kind of security, I roamed around Europe with no particular schedule, a 40 lb. backpack dragging me down, and a plane ticket out of London for 4 weeks later. Ahhh, to be young!

But '88 was also the year everything changed, when four days before Christmas, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie Scotland. The world would be a different place now, and along with 9/11, this event changed the world forever.

This cowardly act of terrorism stole two girls from our tight-knit program who were flying back to NY. Four of us had been in transit when it happened, and so had no idea. Our parents were worried sick when they didn't hear from us. Some kids had changed their tickets to an earlier date to surprise their families for Christmas, so although we knew someone from our group was flying on Pan Am that day, we didn't know who for sure. You could change tickets with someone and no one would even know.

So, as much as I'd love to live the free-wheelin' life again and "wing it" ala The Amazing Race style, I figure for the sake of the kids' nap schedule (heh heh!) , and the sanity of our family and friends who may worry about us, we'd better have some plans nailed down.

Mike made the leap for all of us when he booked the tickets - fly in to London, out from Paris. If we're going to do it, we might as well go big, so 4 weeks and 3 days later our Amazing Race will cross the finish line, and no matter how many challenges we may lose in between, we're all sure to come out winners in the end!

(Ok, corny, but I couldn't resist...)

I've already started my Powerpoint itinerary and notes...notice how many squares are still empty...