It's not a particularly special notebook, really -- just a CVS notebook of a nice size with perforated pages and a pocket. Probably only my mother and I care about these features, but they are features that make it a good workhorse notebook.
It has been about 4 years since I used it -- to organize our move to England. We filled it with to-do lists and questions and information. We jotted down notes from conversations with people who had lived in England or others who had advice for us. It was full of phone numbers and names. By the end, there were binder clips on the three non-spiral sides holding in scraps of paper, business cards, reminders. When we arrived in Cambridge, we used it to take notes during our flat hunting expeditions.
I cleaned out sometime after that, and haven't used it since.
We have settled on a move date. A date that once seemed far away. Now it's soon. Very very soon. Long past beyond time to start making lists. The lists have been in my head for weeks; it's time to commit them to paper.
So, I got out the red notebook and made a good first-pass list. Buy tape. Assess box needs. Cancel phones. Make lists of other things to cancel. Sell car. Make lists of other things to sell.
But that top item was one we need to do. Buy plane tickets.
We did some price comparisons: One-way vs. Round-trip. (Round trip is cheaper.) BA vs. Virgin Atlantic. (exactly the same.) Economy and one suitcase or economy plus with two suitcases? (The latter seems worth the extra cost, methinks.)
We were almost there -- almost ready to cross the first thing off our Move To America to-do list. But then, with little dithering or deliberation, we both closed our laptops, put on our coats, and went for a bike ride.
And lo, it was good.
***
JT bought the tickets today.
We will be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary in Washington, D.C.
In 5 weeks.
