Busy work

Dear sister assures me she too will be posting something soon. She's been busy wrangling her inquisitive 3 year old and the baby Gus, who is already on the go; strong legs giving him the push off he needs to scoot on his back to exciting places like underneath tables.


Meanwhile I too have been busy, preparing to push off to New York.
There is a lot to be done before moving overseas however through the efforts of one jam-packed Thursday, I've actually done all of these things.


Now this is not the worst thing that could happen by far. The worst thing would be if it were the day before I was to leave and I still didn't have my visa and my bank balance was 8 cents. Some people might even think that it is a good thing, to be so organised. That I could just relax now that I've got it all under control. The problem lies in the fact that I'm a born worrier so when I had a list of things to focus on, I had a list of things I could actively work upon to feel proactive and keep my anxiety at bay.


I relate strongly with Misha's character in Dr Zhivago of whom it is said, "A feeling of care remained his ultimate mainspring and was not relieved and ennobled by a sense of security."


Now with there nothing to do before I go but wait. I have opened myself up, like a Pandora's box, to the worst kind of niggling worries.


I actually convinced myself the other day that I would not in fact be able to go to New York as I didn't know how to tip.
When thinking on it in a spare moment of rationality I concluded that as an intelligent adult I would perhaps be able to figure out tipping, or perhaps if measures were really desperate, ask someone.

To distract myself from all of the pointless worry, I went out and bought a very cool item which I believe my dear sister had been eyeing off as a potential Christmas present for me (sorry!); the Moleskin New York guide.
I've had Moleskin diaries before and while they're incredibly cool, I find that at $30 a pop, they're a little too expensive for my pointless and long winded scribblings.
But the New York guide is worth every penny, even when it will be filled with all of my pointless scribblings.
It has a large overview map of New York City, a subway map, 26 pages of maps plus a street directory and then lots of blank pages for your own notes. So in every spare moment of worry I've been diving into the internet and looking up things I might need to know, like where to get the best coffee near my hotel (Culture Espresso Bar) and the exact location of the street that the opening credits of 'Flight of The Conchords'  was shot on (Henry St in Chinatown).

So now when I get to New York I will have my own little customised guidebook and I have the added bonus of the feeling of busy-ness to distract me from all the dread! Perfect!