A week before we are to depart for Ecuador, the nearby volcano begins to belch.  The news outlets say that the country's government has declared a state of emergency.  And I think, a responsible mother would never take her children to live on another continent where the volcanoes are erupting nearby. 

That and our visa situation has not been resolved.  It started with the letter "u" left out of my reprinted degree that I needed to order to secure a professional visa.  Then there were two "e's" missing from my husband's middle name on my children's birth certificates.  (Who spells the name Fredrick with an E....who gives their son the middle name Frederick?) After getting all of those letters figured out-we're still waiting on the affidavit for a name change on the birth certificates...and we're leaving in six days.

I'm wondering if this trip is going to happen.

Counting socks and underwear....and keeping a mental list of what NOT to forget...like a thermometer that measures in Fahrenheit so that I can tell whether or not to take my child's fever seriously.