Are you organized or what?

What is one of the biggest misconceptions about me?  The answer is....that I am organized.  Well many people I know think this.  It is only those that really really know me, those that may have travelled with me and have seen my hotel room after only a day, those that know the state of my garage would land me on an episode of hoarders in a second, those that have ventured into our junk drawer in hopes of locating a pen, those that have worked in the same office space as me (also known as ground zero), and of course those that just really know me well would know that actually I am not organized.  I am; however, an exceptional faker.  I function best with a minimum of 32 balls in the air at any given time.  While regular jugglers would have a consistent, fluid motion of tossing their 32 balls round and round and round, I really just huck mine in the air and hope none hit me in the head on the way down.  For those of you that argue this - you are only arguing because you don't know the real me, and because it is very difficult to comprehend how things can appear - appear I stress - so organized when really they are not. Or sometimes they really are that organized, but it took every ounce of my being to get it that way.  It certainly did not happen naturally. 
You are not organized you say?  It just can't be.  Well let me tell you - it is.  Accept it.  The sooner you do the less time I have to waste explaining the details of my façade. 

So with that cleared up our countdown is now at 15 sleeps.  The list of things that have yet to be done are…..well let’s be serious I say list, but I don’t actually have a list.  Instead of a list I have a compilation of the following: a guidebook sent by the company we rented a place from, 19 stickies that can be found anywhere from my desk to my purse to home, 28 emails to refer to some in folders at work, some on my phone and some in my husband’s account, an attempt at a folder to keep “Important Italy Documents,” and of course comments that others have made to me, but for simplicity sake – let’s just call it a list.
LIST:  book flight…check.  Passports….check.   Rental Car….check.  Place to stay….not checked? 
Ok so you would think with only 3 things checked off the “list” it would have dawned on me prior to last week that maybe there are some things I am leaving out.  Thanks Nic for lining me up with a day backpack and some luggage locks.  And Robin for reminding me that potentially I will need more then just a windbreaker.  She asked “what are you going to do if it’s chilly?”  Huh?  I didn’t think about it being chilly.  It does get chilly in Italy especially in the North where we will be most of the time.  While I know this, the dots had yet to connect that it could be chilly during MY trip to Italy.  Someone else suggested a travel clothes line, a retractable lock for our luggage while we are on the train, or anywhere sketchy.  Oh man.  A retractable lock?  If I didn’t think of that, what else haven’t I thought of?  With this in mind, yesterday afternoon I raced over to Shoppers Drug Mart to purchase some random items.  I came out with ear plugs, and a small container of laundry detergent.  So now I sit at ear plugs…..check.  Laundry detergent…check.  I guess we are set.