Vacation or Purgatory?

As Anne of Green Gables would put it, the spirit moves me to utter a few yowls.... so I shall do so, and then hopefully be done with all undo whining and complaining, which I know is a most unattractive habit anyhow!

DH and I have never been on a vacation together during our 7-years of marriage. We have rarely had the time to take off anyhow, but the main factor has simply been that we have never had enough money even to do an overnight at a Bed and Breakfast. We've always been "just this side" of broke - extras have not been an option. Even now that I'm trying to schedule little overnight camping trips for us, those too are really outside of our budget (when did state parks start charging $25/night????).

So anyhow, this year we are - technically at least - going on vacation. Ten days of it, actually (or rather, six plus two days travel each side) - but am I suitably thankful? No! I am facing the prospect of our upcoming trip with nothing short of dread. I cannot wait until it's over.

Why, you ask? Well, first there's the aforementioned four full days of travel, in the car with two kids - it's 18 hours there and 18 hours back. Blech. Then there's the prospect of trying to keep a baby and an unbelievably energetic four-year-old quietly occupied in an elderly person's home - we're going to be visiting family and staying with DH's adorable grandmother, whom I love dearly, but who is probably more used to peace and quiet than will be plausible. Also, I always find "visiting" visits to be incredibly stressful when they're with people I hardly know from DH's family - one has to be "on" constantly, making small talk, etc., while still trying to occupy and care for one's children - not to mention having every minor foible of one's children open for criticism on the predictable occasions when their non-angelic side breaks out.

Basically, my attitude about this upcoming trip is just plain rotten. I am utterly unenthusiastic over the massive amount of work there is going to be to pull it together and then pull it off. I definitely need a change in attitude!

I am trying to start looking on the bright side of things - that I love Joe's family, that it will be a nice chance to travel and see new things - even Texas in August, when one could cut the humidity with a knife! Hopefully there will be things to do to occupy our 4yo, and at least DH's parents will also be there, which is always a big help. Think positive thoughts! Think! Think! Think! (Maybe this will sink in soon....)

In other news....

For those of you who were awaiting this newsflash, here it is: I have finally discovered the recipe for the best cake in the world. Yes! Check it out! It is a citrus-lover's heaven, and we spent four days feasting upon it's lemony-orangey goodness. Yum. I have no idea where it came from or why it is thus named, but it was wonderful. I ran across the recipe a few years ago and thought it looked good, but I didn't get around to making it until last week, when I made it for my dad's birthday. The whole family raved.

Speaking of state's rights (we weren't, but the cake made me think of it), I am thinking seriously of seceding from my birthday month. Has anyone else ever tried this?

June is an insane - ridiculously insane - month around here. We start off with my dad's birthday, go to DH's dad's birthday, stick in Father's Day (and any graduations), then my birthday, our anniversary, our eldest's birthday, and finish up with Independence Day shortly after. Additionally, since our eldest is the first grandbaby on both sides of the family, we inevitably end up hosting our entire family - in successive waves - during late May and June in order to celebrate his birthday (over and over and over!). Inevitably, my birthday gets completely forgotten. After such an inundation of cake-making, card-writing, package selecting/buying/wrapping/mailing, and hostessing, I am too tired to even care about my own birthday. I don't do much for it anyway, but I do like to make a birthday dinner and cake, and ever since DS was born my attitude has been more along the lines of "More cooking? You've GOT to be kidding" - and so I put it off (to be forgotten).

Thus, I am thinking of exiting the madness! I'm thinking March would be a good un-birthday date, so I'm going to talk it over with DH and see about it.

Our anniversary gets similarly railroaded, so who knows - maybe both events will exit from June's craziness and find saner resting-places.

Under the category of "insanely weird events that somehow find themselves in our life," check this one out:

Last night, DH nearly succeeded in choking himself to death with (wait for it) Nyquil. Yes, seriously. For some reason he choked on it and couldn’t get on top of it, as it caused his throat to constrict tightly, and he ended up nearly blacking out before managing to climb back out of it. I didn’t know about it until the worst was over, as he was in another room. He spent the rest of the evening coughing up cough syrup! We are very thankful that he is okay, though he is still coughing today. It was definitely a creepy (and scary!) event, especially for him, poor fellow!

Well, I could (always!) write more, but I should do something productive with this unexpected windfall of time (both kids asleep at once = miracle). Love to all!!!