Testing! Is anyone out there?

Well... here we are!  This is the intro to the new blog that Brent and I are starting prior to leaving on our big adventure to the United Kingdom with Brent's brother Steve and wife Barbara.
  We have been planning this trip for 2 years now, and want to share our experiences with all our friends and family.  Brent and I will both be contributing to this blog, and adding pictures and video with hopes of updating daily.  I've never created a blog before, so be prepared!  There may be a few hiccups along the way. 
 This is my last few days working as a Support Tech for Ikano, and I have some mixed feelings about leaving my job.  When we began planning our big trip, I saved up for the 3 weeks vacation/off time.  The company laid me off (and all it's other US employees) last March 17, and I expected to just take the full summer off.  Instead 1 week later the company called me and a very few other techs back to help out during the 'transition to overseas support' - a really nice way of saying  the new support wasn't working out very well.  So I've been continuing my job, and now will take a week off prior to leaving the country.  I find myself waking in the middle of the night making mental lists of everything that needs to be done prior to leaving.  That is typical for me, since I'm naturally a list maker.  My packing is obsessive -  something like the scene where Jack Nicholson is packing in "As Good as it Gets"!  Brent is the opposite - he can put 2 shirts and a pair of socks in the same space I can pack 1 month's wardrobe!  Now I realize bagpipes are very bulky and unwieldy to pack, and you can't take a bagpiper to Scotland without his pipes!  So this next week I will be organizing packing for both of us, getting our phone's set for overseas calls, credit cards/banks notified, checking health insurance coverage, and assorted other errands.  Plus we want to spend some time with Joe since he'll be off on his own adventures with his dad. 
Oh heavens... What am I doing  writing a blog?!  Put me in front of a keyboard and I just start 'chatting away'!  I'm not sure Brent is much better - so y'all will just have to put up with us until we get better at self editing.
If anyone has suggestions of places to see while in England, Scotland, and Ireland - packing tips, travel advise, or just want to make a comment - feel free to chime in!  Cheers!