Stress!

For me the most stressful part of getting ready for this trip has been preparations at work. I'm in the middle of a bunch of projects and one of my coworkers has graciously agreed to cover them for me, but I want it to be as smooth as possible so I'm trying to get lots of stuff done before I leave.

I just realized yesterday that this is probably the longest vacation I've taken in the last 15 years, or perhaps ever. (Okay, it's not entirely a vacation, but from the work perspective it is). For those of us with a strong desire to feel needed/indispensable/irreplaceable at work, it's hard to be gone for that long. Either they'll get along just fine with out me (in which case I'll worry that they don't really need me!) or they won't (in which case I'll feel guilty). Oh well! My boss has been very supportive and happy that I'm taking some time, so I suppose I should as well.

We had our last rehearsal before the tour last night. We worked out our mixed formation and worked on some trouble spots. Our intrepid troubadour Eliot was there so we got to practice with him -- always a joy. And the identity of blogger "Biff" was revealed -- who'da thunk it?!