Visa...check!

So my visa arrived yesterday thank God! I'm so happy that it only took ONE week, yes ladies and gentlemen one week compared to the 7 weeks I waited for the au pair contract,which personally I think requires less work than processing a visa. I mean the contract was the simplest thing ever and the stamp wasn't even clear enough! But that doesn't matter anymore because I'M GOING TO PARIS!!
Wow, I can't believe this is actually happening! I have my host family, my ticket, my visa all I need now is to pack and I'm ready to go!

Today I kinda had a small panic attack about me going, well it was more like me telling myself" What are you doing?!You're going to go crazy watching kids 5 times a week!". I actually started having second thoughts, I started doubting my patience for kids (I love kids, but well we all know how energy-draining they can get!) and wondering if I would even survive that long. But don't worry I'm going through with it, it's too late to back out now, besides I know it's normal to have those second thoughts/worries.

I actually can't wait to see the kids, they look so cute in pictures and the mom keeps telling me how they're always talking about me, which makes me want to see them even more.
One thing I am not excited about leaving, and that I am dreading, is packing, oh how I hate packing. I also hate 2 other things that come with packing: the feeling you get when you think you forgot something and can't stop thinking about it the whole trip & unpacking.
Urgh unpacking, I get so lazy just thinking about it. I'm not joking, every time I come back from a trip my luggage remains untouched for like a week. It just lays in my room and I know I only have to take the clothes out and put them away, but for some reason I get too lazy to do it. I eventually do it either because the luggage is taking up too much space in my room or because my mom has started nagging me about putting it away.

Worst part of all of this is that these 2 weeks are going to be FULL of packing and unpacking. On friday we're moving to our new house so we have to pack everything that's in the apartment (I should already have started packing but obviously I have procrastinated). Then we have to unpack our clothes PLUS all of the boxes that were in storage for 4 months.
Then I have to pack 7 months worth of clothes for Paris and I have no idea how to do that. I did a terrible job at packing for 4 months (from Canada to Texas) since I didn't wear half the stuff and I didn't bring enough "light" sweaters" making me wear the same 2 sweaters all the time when it got cold. To my defense I really thought it was going to be hot all the time, but it actually got quite chilly.
Then I have to pack for Houston (we're spending Christmas over there) and then once I'm back from Houston I have to unpack and then I have to unpack once again when I'm in Paris.

Packing is some kind of science, no really. I mean everybody says "Pack half as much clothing as you think you'll need..." but I'm going to Paris! One of the world's fashion capitals! I don't want to be wearing the same things over and over again. I mean I get it I will have to because I can't bring my whole closet with me (if only I could) but I mean I already got tired of not having a lot of variety of clothing here in Texas and it's only been 4 months, imagine 7? I know I can always buy stuff there, but I'm expecting myself to be poor since that's what every au pair seems to say. Besides I want to spend my money on traveling.
Also I think it's going to be hard to pack for Paris because I need to bring clothes for 2 different kinds of weathers hot and cold. It's going to be cold maybe like half the time I'm there, but the other half is going to be summer! So I have to find the perfect balance.
Then there's the fact of the weight limit, stupid weight limit! This means I can't stuff my luggage until it's about to explode. So even if I don't bring a lot of clothes, I can't bring a lot of heavy stuff ( I was thinking on bringing body lotions, shampoos etc. so I wouldn't have to spend on that over there, I figured it'd be cheaper here in the States). I also want to bring some picture frames for those moments where I'll feel home sick, but 1-they take up space 2-they weight more than clothes.

I think it's going to take me a week to pack for Paris. I'm sure there's a strategy for packing, and I am determined to find it! I will let you know how it goes and share my strategy with you (if I manage to find one). It's probably going to involve a lot of planning and taking out all my clothes to see what comes and what doesn't (not that it'll be a problem since I already have to put everything into my new closet either way). And I got a secret weapon....my dad. My dad is so good at packing and making things fit. I have no idea how he does it, but he manages to find a way to make everything fit. I can pack and unpack and pack and unpack as many times as I can't trying different ways of putting everything in and I will still not manage to get everything to fit, but my dad does.

Well it's late, I'm off to bed. One last thing... Countdown: 15 days!