Well, here I am sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting for my flight to Buenos Aires. It is hard to believe that I am actually leaving today. I am excited--even more excited now that I am actually on my way. This time next week, we should actually be arriving in Antarctica, but there is a lot to look forward to between now and then. Tomorrow, I'll be meeting up with almost all of the rest of the AkzoNobel team. Carlos, our colleague from Buenos Aires, has arranged for some sightseeing while we are in his city. Then, we will travel on to Ushuaia at the southern tip of Argentina to meet up with the rest of the expedition team. I hope to be able to post some entries from Argentina. If not, keep up with the team blog at www.missionantarctica.com between March 16 and March 27.

Gear

I didn't realize that I had purchased so much BLACK until I laid it all out last night. My doctor called in my prescription for the seasickness patches today, so I am really down to the last couple of items. I still need a back up battery for my camera, some little padlocks for my luggage, handwarmers, etc. In many ways, it is better that I only have 1 more weekend before we leave--I don't need more time to come up with things I may use on the trip. In the picture, you'll see Pix the Penguin and Chilly Willie the Polar Bear. They'll be coming along with me, courtesy of my girls' school classrooms. Pix will be representing my kindergartner's class, and Chilly is coming as an ambassador from my 3rd-grader's class. I have a little journal for each class, and I hope to be able to record my thoughts in a way that 5 to 10 year olds can really understand.

Final Packet

The team has just received its final packet from 2041, the company leading the expedition. The final packet includes the expedition manual, as well as a final checklist, a summary of all the information we previously received and emergency contact information. I have to say the trip is becoming more and more REAL!

I went through the gear list again last night, and I am down to the final purchases--most of which I could probably make do without (other than seasickness medicine--I am not normally prone to seasickness, but I want to be prepared for the dreaded Drake Passage). I think tonight I will try to pack all of my gear into my duffel to make sure that it all fits.

I've also started trying to prepare home for me being gone for 19 nights--I made a sheet for each day with notes for my girls, my sitter and my husband of all of the things that usually just happen when I am at home. I am quite sure that they will all manage just fine while I am gone but the control freak in me is worried about the details.

After I get all my gear organized tonight or tomorrow night, I'll be back with the pictures of the gear that I promised earlier.

Not exactly Antarctica

Well, it wasn't exactly Antarctica but Atlanta, GA got something it rarely gets yesterday--a little snow. We got about an inch and a half of accumulation at our house yesterday--it was wet, heavy snow, but my girls had a blast. Good news: my boots kept my toes warm and dry! A lot of the snow has already melted, and things will be back to normal in a couple of days. We are expecting almost 70 degrees F (20 degrees C) by Friday.