Word of the Week - Preparation

In one week I will be travelling to London on my own for a blogging and social media conference, Britmums Live. Just writing that makes me quiver a little bit! As you can imagine, there is lots to do ahead of my trip, and so my word of the week this week is preparation.

I've been lucky to have a few days off in a row this week, which gave me a great opportunity to catch up on washing and housework. It also meant I had some time to start preparing for next weekend. I'm only going to London for two nights, but for me the whole thing is a pretty big deal. I've never really spent time away from my family before, and the idea of navigating such an adventure without them is scary. I will miss them a lot, and I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for two whole nights without seeing them. My son Neil, who is very matter of fact about things, keeps informing me 'it will be fine, you can see me on FaceTime', and I suppose he is right. It doesn't stop me worrying about it though.

Of course, as well as mental preparations, there are also plenty of physical preparations too.

I have spent my evenings this week printing out tickets and confirmations, planning routes to and from the hotel, reading tube information over and over again (I'm sorry, but it looks so complicated, I'm sure I'm going to end up on the wrong side of London somehow!). I may never feel mentally prepared but I'm making sure everything else is sorted. I still have to pack, but I think I will do that next week. Just because I haven't started physically packing, I have started on a list of things to put in my bag. Packing wouldn't usually be a strong point of mine, but I'm determined not to do a rubbish job... I can just imagine the panic if I arrived in the big city without my phone charger or something! (I've just realised how much I sound like a country girl, talking about 'the big city' like I've never left the shire before!)

I've also spent some time trying on outfits and planning what sessions I will attend. I even sat and walked around the area of my hotel on street view a few days ago, just to get a feel for the place.

I know all of this may sound a bit over the top, I guess I am kind of freaking out a bit about the whole thing. I know it's going to be an awesome weekend, and I really can't wait... hopefully all of my preparation will pay off and I'll have an enjoyable, stress free weekend.

I hope you have all had a great week! If you are heading to Britmums Live, please come and say hello!