Naps definitely are the equalizer of the masses. Most of us can and do nap on a regular basis (although for some reason, my mother cannot nap despite numerous attempts at it). My problem is that when I wake up from a nap, I usually feel pretty groggy and the after-effect is that everything I've done before the nap began feels like a dream. Despite physical evidence to the contrary, my early-afternoon nap makes me feel like I didn't wake my sorry ass up at 7AM to go to the Connecticut DMV to hand my car over to my parents and pick up packing supplies. Tomorrow will be even worse when I wake up at 5:30AM to catch a ferry. But more on that later.

Today was my day to be stupid. Thankfully, I am suffering from a 24 hour bout of stupidity rather than a chronic or terminal case. Not only did I forget to unload my trunk last night so when I bought huge boxes of bubble wrap I could barely fit them in my car (and I initially thought I couldn't get them in because I had put them in sideways instead of the proper way to fit them all in the back seat), but I also accidentally left two very important papers at the house when I went to my appointment to have my taxes done. Thankfully, the accountant was a family friend so it was okay -- she chatted with my mom and worked on my taxes while I dashed back to the house at 80+ miles an hour to find the papers (they had fallen off my stack that I brought with me -- it wasn't intentional).

Tomorrow, I'm waking my sorry ass up at 5:30AM to catch a ferry to Long Island. Mom and I are going to the family cemetery plot on Long Island to say goodbye to our relatives for what could probably be both of our last times there until one of my parents kicks off. We're also heading into New York City proper to pay our respects to our other honored dead at Ground Zero. This will be the last time that I see New York for a very long time, and it will be one of the last times my mom ever sees New York. Though I was born there, it will be harder on her because she was raised there and spent 25 years in the city.