Anxious

A final load of linens tumbles in the dryer. The prop planes across the street drone on.

A swimsuit-clad daughter with damp hair bounces on the neighbor's trampoline one last time. Laughter bounces off the fences and spills onto our patio.

I nibble a cookie and search the latest cooking magazines for dinner ideas. I've got to do something with that package of frozen chicken thighs--the last of our stores to be devoured before kitchen clean-out begins in earnest tomorrow.

Nick is out to the zoo with Calvin and the baby is napping.

I start in on packing what we'll need for our two weeks of travel time and I notice the suitcases have begun to fill themselves. My muscles are familiar with transition and journey and they need no reminder of what to pack for whom.

My hands begin to work without the thought usually required for putting them into motion, so there's plenty of room in my empty brain for the worrying and the wondering to settle in.

There's a cassette tape playing in there on an endless loop. It goes like this:

Did I wash everyone's lovies?
Did I pack enough snacks?
Did I print enough activity pages to span a week's worth of road-tripping?
Should we have shipped one of the cars?

Can we really travel 400 miles every day?
How hot is it in the Southwest right now?
How hot is it in the Midwest right now?
How hot is it on the East Coast right now?
Will the shades we purchased keep the kids from getting sunburned in the car?

Will Calvin's mint and rosemary clippings survive the transport to our new garden?
Will he cry if they don't?
Will our cats survive the transport?
Would anyone mind if they didn't?

Will we find hotels that accept pets?
Will we have to smuggle our cats into a hotel that doesn't allow pets?
Will we get caught?

Will Henry nap in the car?
Will Henry sleep in the hotel room?
Will we be able to sleep in the hotel room if Henry's up at night?

Does Cracker Barrel serve vegetables?
Do gas stations sell Slushies made without high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors and dyes?
How much beef jerky is too much when you're driving all of the way across the United States?

What does our new house look like?
How long will it take for our household goods to arrive?
Will we need to buy more furniture to fill an extra 1000 square feet of space?
Did the owners shampoo the carpets like they said they would?
Did the carpet shampoo get rid of the dog smell?

How long will it take for us to make our first friends?
How lonely will we feel when Nick leaves for five weeks in the middle east two weeks after we move?
How long will it take for the kids to adjust?
How long will it take for me to adjust?

Will the local library be as good as the one in our current neighborhood?
Are there any good pizza places close by?
Are there children in our neighborhood?
Will they like my kids?
Will we find new babysitters?
How long will it take to find a church home?

Will anyone come visit us on the East Coast?
How long will it be until we move back to the West Coast?
Will I miss the ocean?
Will I miss warm weather?

Will I like our nation's capitol?
Will the history amaze me?
How long will it take us to get through all of the Smithsonian?
How often can I sneak away to read in the Library of Congress?
What should I wear for the Easter Egg roll on the White House lawn?
Are there sea otters at the National Zoo?

Will three years be enough to do it all?