All my bags are not packed...

But I'm leaving, tomorrow, for France. Or, as The Hubs and I have become accustomed to saying, France in our Pants. Because we will be wearing pants, I suppose. But I'm not packed. Still, there's always time for packing. I mean, do you know anyone who gets to the airport with nothing in their hands and just shrugs and says, "Well, I ran out of time. So I guess I'll just go as is. Who needs more than one pair of underwear?" No, this never happens. Because you always make time for packing. Which is why I'm leaving it to the very last second, and instead, taking time for one last blog before I go. After all, I'm going to be gone for 18 days. Eighteen days with a self-imposed ban on internet, phones, cellphones, email or Blackberrys. I think the last time I encountered such a phenomenon may have been in 1988 when I was forced to go to a Girl Guide camp. I only lasted one night. One raw hotdog (who has patience to stand over a flame and cook it?), 3 raw marshmallows and a sleepless night reading Sassy magazines in my tent by flashlight with my two BFF Girl Guides in Crime later, I called my father and asked him to pick me up -- my friends toughed it out. Even then, I wasn't fully without connection to life since I had my ghetto blaster, stocked with D batteries to get us through the night. But that was enough disconnect with the real world for me.

So, since I won't be updating this blog while I'm gone, I thought I'd leave you with a few random thoughts.

* Lost and Found. I heard about this book on Jennifer Weiner's blog, and picked it up immediately because the story sounded good - the story of a mother & daughter in an Amazing Race-type reality TV show? What's not to love? The story is slightly ironic, making fun of reality TV shows, while delving into the contestants' lives. I didn't love the ending, but I loved the rest of the book, which is a great switch, since sometimes you read a book and love the ending but the rest is just the getting there, so this was a nice surprise to love the actual story. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a quick but good read.

2. Right now I'm reading Ann Brashares' The Last Summer of You and Me. As I'm sure you know, Ann is the author of the Travelling Pants' series, for which I have an interesting tidbit. The Hubs and I were visiting a friend and her new boyfriend to be was over so the four of us decided to have a low-key night with takeout and videos. The first movie we rented was something boyish (I say this because that's what I call any movie with boys, guns, blown up stuff and swearing). The second movie we rented was The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. I hadn't read the books but wanted to see the movie. The Hubs was ALL for it. I mean, what's not to like about a light, fun, easy movie?

So we watched the boy movie first. And then, do you know what happened? I'll tell you. The boyfriend to be left after the first movie. Oh yes he did. He said he was tired, but of course we know he just didn't want to watch The Pants. Which is SO wrong. I mean, how macho do you have to be to refuse to watch it? And even if you HATE it, you'd be spending time with the girl you like, right? I don't think I have to tell you that he did not make it from "boyfriend to be" status to full-on "boyfriend" status. And now my friend is engaged to another boy. All this to say, if you're ever trying to weed out the real men from the too-cool-for-schoolers, you might want to rent The Pants. I'm just saying.

So anyway, this is Ann Brashares' first adult novel and so far I'm loving it. I was supposed to be saving it for the plane, but I couldn't wait to get into it. It reminds me a lot of Judy Blume's Summer Sisters, which was like the best gift ever when she published it, years after I'd run out of her novels to read. Anyway, The Last Summer is the perfect read in this summer-like weather we're having.

* The other books I've packed for my trip are:



* The Accidental by Ali Smith, which my book club is reading -- I've been thinking about reading this for a while, so I'm so glad this was chosen. I don't know anything about it, except from what I can judge by the cover. Either she's very tired or has fallen down. Perhaps from an accident. We'll see.
















* Happy Birthday or Whatever by Annie Choi. I discovered Annie when Meg Cabot mentioned her on her blog and now I'm addicted to Annie's blog. It's hilarious. You should check it out. If her memoir is anything like her blog, I'm set. That is, if the book actually arrives today in the mail. It wasn't available in any bookstores here, so I had to order it online. I'm thinking I may have to go stalk the mailman. Maybe he's reading it and doesn't want to give it up til he's done. I could totally understand why. I would totally do that if I was a mail girl. Which is likely why Canada Post would never hire me. Too bad for me.

* The golf season has come to a close, and I've decided that this is the most useful lesson I've learned this season. It's not just a golf lesson, either, so even if you don't golf, I think you'll agree you can apply it to most any aspect of your life:

When your ball goes into the woods and you go after it, and you find it sitting on top of a used condom, just leave it. A true friend will lend you another ball.











* Finally, I am absolutely obsessed with this product: J.R.Watkins Apothecary Lemon Cream Shea Butter Hand Repair Moisturizer. It arrived on my desk last week and I cannot stop applying it. It's like a lemon meringue pie without the calories but all the indulgence. And you know how some creams smell great but it's like putting a layer of butter on your hands and you can't pick anything up because your hands are so slippery? This cream is totally NOT like that. It actually WORKS. Soaks in. Makes your hands less dry. So much so that I actually end up applying more just because I love the scent so much, even when I don't need any more. It's that good.

So there you go - you've got books to read, hand cream to buy, blogs to read and a lesson to remember. See you mid-October!