Apparently I am swimming in it.  The Sea of Forgetfulness.

Last week I took the wrong exit on the way to work.  I took a look around and thought, “where in the world am I?”  Who knew the exit before my exit could look so entirely different, as though I had entered a foreign country.  But that’s not slated for another 3 weeks.

Two days ago I told my mechanic that the “maintenance required” light was on, and another “funny light with a strange shape.”  Would this be a problem for my upcoming 15 hr round trip journey over the weekend to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary?  I was told my dip stick was dry.  Wow, I don’t just let anyone talk to me like that.  I forgot to add oil to the car.  I guess that’s important.

Yesterday I waited and waited for my carpool partner to pick me up.  When I finally couldn’t bear it anymore, I called her to find out where she was.  She answered the phone and said, “Are you coming?”  Kind of desperately.  I guess it was me who was supposed to be picking her up.  Who knew?  Not me.

Today I locked my carpool partner’s keys in her own car.  While her car was in the loading dock.  Because I needed boxes for packing.

Then I told someone I’d give them a brain dip, instead of a brain dump.  This is the second use of the word dip in two days.  Dip stick.  Brain dip.  I think they are related.

My life is one big brain dip these days.  Dip because there is a very shallow amount of available space for things like, well, work.  And remembering to pick up my carpool partner.

Have I lost my mind?  From the looks of people when I tell them about our trip…yes.  From the recent misadventures of Lori Brown….yes.

I have no ill-conceived ideas this will change until I get on the plane.  I just hope I don’t forget to get on.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane.  Actually, it is a plane.  Well, a whole fleet of planes — a German airline to be exact.  Why do I know this?  We just bought our first plane tickets for our Round the World journey!

I guess we are really going.  Gulp.

Should I be concerned that I am putting my family of 4 on an airline I’ve never heard of?  Or that I had to purchase the tickets direct from Germany in Euros?  I might have checked the safety ratings of this airline first.  Who can be bothered, though, there is so much to do.

Here’s a travel tip: It’s not easy to purchase airline tickets from Germany at midnight.  I’m just sayin’, maybe it’s better to do this earlier in the evening, so that, I don’t know, you don’t fall asleep halfway through the transaction at 1:30am and beg your beloved spouse to please, please, please stay up and seal the deal.

Seems that my little visa card is very sensitive.  No way was it gonna let me just drop a cool $1600 bucks on plane tickets purchased with Euros (is that currency still valid these days?).  Even if I tried to use my now-defunct college level German to push my way through.

First we tried to make the purchase online: denied.  We tried again.  And again.  Called Condor in Germany on their toll free line.  The German agent informs me it will NEVER work unless I call my credit card company and release the restriction on my card.

1:00 am I call visa.  I request they remove the restriction.  They do.  Or so I think they do.  We try to purchase again: denied.  Back to visa, “yes, yes the restriction is removed, give it a few minutes.” A few minutes?  I don’t have a few minutes, I am propping my eyes open as it is.

I’m going down.  Bad.  It’s an attitude I don’t want my airline to have.

But I  c-a-n-n-o-t  stay awake one more minute. Curtis, who possibly never sleeps, faithfully remains and finishes the transaction. Successfully.

See, it is a bird!

I think I hurled one final comment over my shoulder as I made my way upstairs, “Just stay up and FINISH IT! We have to get that price, it will be gone tomorrow!”  Said with all the love you can imagine.  And clueless that it already was tomorrow.

So Condor it is.  A plane.  To Germany.  Purchased in Euros.  At 3:00 am.