More of a ramble than an update

I haven't made much forward progress in the rest of my hotel reservations. I have solidified my itinerary. I think it will be a mostly relaxing trip except for the 3 days in both Florence and Rome, where I'm stuffing as much as I possibly can into a short period of time. I've heard rumor that the cities aren't that great to stay in, very busy, and so I thought I'd do the tourist things and move on. The last week of vacation will be spent in southern Italy, Sorrento, Capri, Positano, being a beach bum and just enjoying the surroundings. Hopefully that will allow me to come home relatively relaxed. I don't think I'll miss work. This weekend's plan is to do a little luggage shopping. I bought a handmade journal at this great art exhibition in Santa Monica (Ashes & Snow) last weekend, so that's out of the way. I'm looking to buy a new day pack, must zip and be able to carry all my drugs (the legal kind) and a day's change of clothes and toiletries, so that if, god forbid, the luggage gets lost on the way, I'll have something to change into after a day of flying. A trip to REI is in the plans for tomorrow. So the count is at 138, just 4 1/2 months. Crazy short amount of time, but I'll be as anally prepared as I can be.