I had a blood test a few days ago to get my cholesterol checked. While they were at it, they tested my blood for antibodies for MMR vaccines. Well, I have antibodies for both of the “Ms” but not the “R” and that means I have to go get another shot for the trip. I’m gonna have tracks on my arms before long if this keeps up!

It’s been good to be able to get out of the house more lately. It was nice to avoid all the holiday traffic. I missed getting out to go places but not enough to fight that cluster. I do think that I am going to get away for a few days. I need it and have nothing else going on so why not. Catch up with some friends, maybe grab a hotel or two.

I went to a mall yesterday to get something and it was quite a depressing place to be. More empty storefronts than occupied ones, so little foot traffic, and employees/owners working their asses off to keep their places open. You can just feel the “last days” vibes in most malls these days. Southcenter Mall by SeaTac is an exception, though. It is always packed with so many people it is just madness. The Jollibee there always has long lines to order food, and the Asian market next door does a booming business.

It was really rather sad, thinking back to the malls of my youth as I walked around the mall. Leavenworth HAD a mall, and it was where we liked to hang out because they had a Musicland record store among other places. Going to Indian Springs Shopping Center in Kansas City, KS after it opened was a big thing and a rare treat. Why, they even had a moviehouse in the building! More than one screen – they had SIX!!!! Oh, the humanity! As the cities spread out and crime started to filter in as the suburbs grew, Indian Springs fell into disuse and disrepair, eventually torn down.

I am going to buy a luggage scale. Looking over our flights we can only have a carry on from 10-12 kg each and one small “personal item”. I want to make sure we can avoid checking our bags. It is very expensive to check them last minute, and much more than a domestic flight. Being able to weigh our bags will be important enough to warrant spending the money on it.

I am really packing light in anticipation of not only the bag weighing too much, but also needing a little extra room for souvenirs. Trying to stay under 22-26 pounds will be tough. Watching some videos others post about packing has really made me rethink and refine and I think I have removed most of what I can get by without. I’m still going to think about any other things I can leave behind.

I got a few more details wrapped up today with regard to traveling over there. I found a few details that needed to be handled, and I am trying to get other things like this that I think about and find buttoned up in plenty of time. If there’s an issue I want time to fix it. We are both still quite excited to go and the time cannot go quick enough for us to go. We have a ways to go, though.