When preparing for a trip there are always a set of last minute tasks to complete.

Depending on the time of year and the length of the trip it may include mowing the lawn.

The lawn does not look too bad here, but thinking about how it would look a couple weeks from now I had to give the yard a trim.

I did not take the time to clean up the rose bushes. I will not be here to look at them so it is not going to bother me 🙂

I do have some nice looking roses like this one. However, they will have withered away by the time I get home. Pruning roses will then be part of my cleanup tasks for the week after I get home.

Of course filling the empty suitcase is another task to complete. I applied The Packing Formula and now have a full suitcase. I also had to finish a bit of laundry, but it is now all done.

In the morning I will make a final mental review to see if I packed everything I need. If not, I can always buy what I need when I get there.

Another last minute task is determining what books to take with me. I decided that one book was going to be The Covenant by James Michener. I have read the book before, but I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to read it again.

The Covenant is set in South Africa and is a great history of the country. I will have to see how far through the book I make it before I get back home from South Africa. It is a very thick book so I have hours of reading ahead of me.

I will be staying in Sandton, South Africa during the trip, so I thought that maybe Sanditon by Jane Austen and Another Lady would be another good book to read on the trip. Of course, there is an ‘i’ in the title of the book that is not in the name of the town, but it got me thinking and prompted me to pull the book from one of my many to-read piles.

OK, I must get some sleep before heading to the airport.

Steven