A is for Apple

It is dark, and has been for what seems an eternity, but in reality, but a few hours. My inability to move from the couch to find the Halloween candy I hear whispering my name should attest to my lack of energy and pure exhaustion.
Tomorrow's agenda holds for me, a full day of work, but before I can go to work, I must:
Pack a suitcase for the weekend in Abu Dhabi
Print out all documents I must have notarized at the Embassy
Make sure I have all my ducks in a row and am ready to have all i's dotted and t's crossed.
Take out the trash
Water all plants
make sure all perishables are in the refrigerator or thrown away
set all electronics to charge so I will have something to entertain me while in transit

and then,
well then I can trek off to work to see what the day holds for me.

After work, I must make sure all is in the car that needs to go, fill up the gas tank, buy some water and snacks for the road.
Then the trek to take care of business I am not in the least excited about will ensue.
30 minutes to buy a ferry ticket, get the car in the queue (line for my American friends) and board the ferry. Once it begins to churn through the water, I will happily see the other side and drive away from the port a mere 90 minutes later.
Whew, only 2 and a half hours before I arrive in Abu Dhabi. Now all that has to be done is drive 140 km/h weaving out of trucks driving almost half that and locals driving much faster than I am, and want me out of their way.
All so I can go to the Embassy to get a piece of paper signed and notarized and mailed to the US within the next 24 hours.

Now if I were living elsewhere, the overnight bag just to get something notarized, or grocery shop, or attend a brunch with friends would not be necessary. But I am not, I am living on Delma Island, where you have to travel a long distance to go anywhere.

Of course, this is the regular MO for every trip to Abu Dhabi, and yes, I will be doing other things, but not because I would have anyway, (I wouldn't have been traveling this weekend) but because I am already there.

That is what happens when my mother implanted her voice in my head and all I can hear is what she wanted me to do rather than what I want to do. Yes, she can control me from the grave.

Perhaps now my friends, you will understand where the part of me that wants things a certain way comes from... the apple sitting right next to the tree.... although I am trying to roll away from it as much as I can.