Makin a List, Checkin it Twice

As most of you who know me well, with every bit of adventure I incorporate into my life, there is at least that amount of anxiety and worry.  To say I am anxious is an understatement.  I can work myself into a frenzy pretty quickly, and a simple family outing can quickly turn (in my head) into a tragic disaster.  Like the time my oldest went to visit his grandparents for the weekend in Madison last summer. When it was shared with me that he would be going on a lengthy bike ride to watch a fireworks display over the holiday weekend, I soon had it in my mind that he would be too tired that late in the evening to ride home and would most certainly crash.  And he would crash in a ditch where no one would find him.  And when someone would find him, it would most definitely be a one-eyed, drug-dealing maniac who would drag my son, bleeding, broken and only half-conscious into the brush and sell him to a child-slave ring and disappear into the deep forests of Brazil, never to be seen again.  You may think I'm joking.  But I digress......

So, a trip to Europe makes me a little bit on the nervous side.  Not because I don't trust my mom and my in-laws to share the responsibilities.  To the contrary, they are quite competent. I just think about every possible scenario involving an ER visit, car crash, or massive house explosion and I realize that lamaze ain't just great for birthin' babies.

So, I've created a list.  Two, really.  One of all the things that need to be organized before I leave (that will come later).  The second of all the emergency contacts and friends I can think of, in case my mom needs help jumping a dead battery on the car (Bill, that's you), or ideas on how to best stop a gas leak in the basement (Holthaus, we've got your number!).  And I must say, it's really making me feel better.  As the list of friends and colleagues in our neighborhood and just down the street grows, I am beginning to realize how wonderful it feels that there is a community who could genuinely rally around us in a time of need.  So, if you have been asked by Neal or myself in the past couple days to be on "the list", THANK YOU, and if we haven't asked you yet, well plan on a conversation soon!!