I'm Dreaming of anything BUT a white Christmas

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The countdown has officially begun. Yes, technically with our departure date being tomorrow the countdown should have begun weeks ago, but give me a break, I've been busy. It's been a few years since my last out of the country trip and I forgot how stressful the planning can be. Not only am I forced to clock twice the normal hours at work for an ill fated attempt to somewhat maintain my standard of living when I return, but I've also had to deal with the pre-travel preperations like finding and copying documents, exchanging money, double checking itineraries and packing (I'll spare you the details of this last struggle, but I should have you know my heart aches for all the boots, jackets and sweaters left behind)
So with that being said, I've managed to overcome my packing problems, finished dealing with frustrating automated bank tellers, and managed to annoy my family to no end making sure they've tied up all their loose ends as well. So essentially I've managed to keep under control every controllable pre-travel element (and compacted it into a convienient 1 inch 3 ring binder complete with maps, language guides and even a Greek God cheat sheet). But I've learned this week that my anal retentive, slightly compulsive behavior, only goes so far....
As I type this the entire midwest is being blanketed with a mini blizzard of snow and ice. It's a gorgeous, idyllic Christmas gift to all those Saint Louisans who, like myself, have spent Christmas after Christmas humming Bing Crosby and hoping to wake up to a storybook style snowstorm on Christmas morning. Unfortuatley, this year, I'd like anything but icy roads and winter weather advisories. This Christmas there is no option of curling up by the tree with a new book and a cup of hot cocoa watching the snowstorm. No, this Christmas, they'll be lots of curling up and reading, but instead of by a fireplace, it'll be in seat 3C, for 10+ hours watching the clouds go by and praying the guy in seat 2C doesn't learn how far he can move his seat back.
So icy roads or no icy roads, we'll be en route to Istanbul, Turkey at 11:45 tomorrow morning. No amount of pre-travel planning or obsessive itinerary making can change the fact that we may, or may not be caught amongst a nasty winter storm. But as anxious as the possibility for nasty weather makes me, I have no choice but to sit back and wait, Mother Nature calls the shots at this point. But I must say, I will definetley be deleting any "White Christmas" rendition from my Ipod tonight...

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