Tuesday, May. 28, 2019 - 7:58 a.m.

Ok, we leave in a week. And the little bit of cleaning I did yesterday was virtually undetectable. Ugh.

Q slept in her room for the first time in years last night! It wasn’t problem-free (J had to sit in there with her for like 3 hours), but still.

I haven’t mentioned this here but I may as well because I am having some anxiety about it— in September I am going to be spending a week in Cardiff, Wales. I’m supposed to be mostly visiting a friend when I’m there but since it’s a new friend I’m nervous that somehow I’ll end up having to do the entire thing on my own anyway (did I ever tell you about how when I was 20 I went to Europe for a month but never found my traveling companions at the airport and had to do the whole thing solo, having had no plans of my own in place? It was formative and after the initial meltdown, basically fine, but I know I would not relish the feeling of being totally without a plan of my own in case something like that happens again, and I have a fundamental distrust in situations where I might rely on others for travel). So anyway I’m planning what I want to do there without reference to my friend, he can come along for whatever and hopefully will be able to show me other cool stuff and keep me fed, but if not, I want to be able to enjoy myself regardless.

What I like to do when traveling:
Contemporary art museums
Sitting and looking at people
Walking around on walking trails and sitting down and looking occasionally.
Having tea
Craft-related shopping?
Food, probably

I would like to also get out of Cardiff and into the countryside a bit but I’m not sure where I should go. Also it’s going to be September and I am not going to want to be walking around outside for hours if it’s raining, and I hear it’ll probably be raining.

I looked into that little town with all the used bookshops, but it’s not that easy to get to. Pembrokeshire looks lovely for walking, but again: rain.

I try to look at pics of the city online and it makes me nervous (not a fan of cities) even though it’s smaller than the Tucson metro area. And I worry about getting around. I’m no longer a fluent user of public transportation.

I want to have my plan in place and feel relaxed enough about it to not let on to the in-laws that I’m anything other than straightforwardly excited. They will have so many questions and suggestions, especially if I don’t seem to know what I’m going to do. Why there, after all, if I don’t even have an idea what I’m doing there. Then they’ll start suggesting historic tours. *shudder*

Really if it comes down to it, if I can sit by the sea and drink some tea and read a book, I’ll be good. Then go nap. I can totally spend a week doing that.

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