Boston Bound

I got up at 4:30 this morning in order to make my flight to Boston- via a four hour layover in Dallas. I've been packing for this trip for about two weeks now, shuffling and re-packing until I'm now certain to have forgotten something or other. I was going to just take a carry on, but then couldn't figure out how to get my mousse to Boston. And really, if you're at all familiar with my hair you know that traveling without the certainty of reliable mousse is not an option. Hence I had toyed with the idea of just shipping a box of "checked baggage" to myself but found it would be easier to just check a bag, although not necessarily cheaper. The fee to check my bag was more than the postage to ship it. The point is, I have shuffled my stuff from backpack to box to one bag and then another. Im trying to minimize the baggage I have to tote through Boston because I'm moving from one hotel to a bed and breakfast after the first night. I'd put off reserving a hotel room until February. I had thought two months would be ample lead time, but judging from the incredulous tone of many an innkeeper when I inquired about room availability(" oh no- that's MARATHON weekend") it was a bit late. Hence I wound up with a reservation at a large hotel chain in a Boston suburb that seemed roughly equivalent to staying in Queens. I was already bummed about going top this marathon solo(running partners are injured or otherwise unable to run, and flying the family up for the weekend was just too cost prohibitive) but then isolating myself further in a hotel room far from all the hubbub was just too depressing. So I managed to find a B&B in Cambridge for the second two nights, but the trade off is that I have to lug all my stuff on the Boston subway(the T) from hotel A to hotel B and then head back to the expo to pick up my number.
Fortunately for my packing needs, I'm leaving my two most complex items at home... Jackson and Riley. It's amazing how much you don't have to carry in your purse when the two monkeys aren't tagging along. This downsizing of my purse allowed me to take a good hard look at its contents: animal crackers, Slinky, baby wipes, hotwheels, dum dum suckers, bandaids, ponytails, jet airplane etc. All of which is indispensable for daily life with the two monkeys, but rather superfluous when it's just me.
So now I'm in flight and feeling oddly exposed. Traveling without kids feels a little like suddenly not having internet access- I am cut off not only from all my usual ways of interacting with people (usually I have either a child in tow or a stethoscope. Both of which fundamentally alter the way people treat you)but I'm at a total loss of what to do with myself. I miss having a little head to steer (because steering Jackson with his noggin is by far the most effective means of getting him going in the right direction. There's even a handy little divot at the base of his skull that seems just made for this purpose). And who do I talk to without Brian around or Riley's incessant chatter and questions?

No wonder I feel like I forgot to pack something... I did.