My Summer of Accomplishments - A Recap

The sun was beautiful; the sand was refreshing; the airplane ride was horrendous; the painting was long; the book was exciting; the water was wonderful. That, in a nutshell, sums up my summer. Hard to believe I start back to school tomorrow. I had so many plans for the summer. I had so much I wanted to accomplish this summer. I accomplished some of the "to do" list; others will remain on the list until, oh, probably Christmas vacation.

The beach trip was great. I could live at the beach and be a bum. Period.

"Leaving on a Jet Plane" is not my theme song. My feet are meant to stay on the ground. But once I got there, I had a great time. Las Vegas was very glad to see me leave, thankyouverymuch.

My living room is completely painted and looks great. Now I'm just trying to find the right finishing touches for my mantel. If you have something in your garage you'd like to send, feel free.

Didn't quite read as many books as I'd have liked to. I tried. I really, really tried. But every time I sat down to read, I had a problem...and woke up fifteen or ninety minutes later. But if I try really, really hard today and tonight, I can finish my first book by the time I start back to school.

Stay tuned. Pictures of the living room and trip to Las Vegas coming soon...promise!

I'm Home : )

If you came here looking for pictures and details about my weekend in Vagas, check back in...oh...six months or so. I may be caught up on my sleep by then. If you want an instant version, go here. It's obvious that Lynne doesn't require as much sleep as I do, as her highlights are already up and running.

We had a great time, the weather was great, the company was great, Dramimine is my new BFF and I'm still tired.

Christmas in July

With the uttering of one single sentence, my entire Christmas shopping list was completed...and it's only July. "We're going to Orlando...on New Year's...to the Capitol One Bowl!" Only Oldest Child had a few more explanation points in there; and I think possibly her's could have been written in all caps; possibly with a quotation mark or two thrown in for good measure.



Perhaps you will recall the OC is the typical, driven, oldest offspring. She can accomplish anything she sets her mind to. I merely sit back and hang on for the ride, not afraid to tighten the reins when necessary. I stopped asking, "How bad can it be?" long, long ago with OC...because she will set out to show me. Another phrase I refuse to use: "What are the odds?" What were the odds a freshman would make the high school dance team?? What are the odds that said dance team will finish in the top three at dance camp this week? Because the top three teams get a "chance" to compete at the Capitol One Bowl in Orlando on New Year's Day (perhaps, could it be, that my ALL CAPS button isn't working...hmmm...). Notice I used the word "chance". As opposed, to...oh, say, "all expense paid trip to the Orange Bowl".



So now my Christmas list is made. Gas cards will fit so nicely into the stockings hung by the chimney with care. Hotel vouchers will be quite heavy if I put them in a box with a couple of rocks. And I will look so nice in a bathing suit on NEW YEARS! Wanna hear the real kicker?? OC thought I was joking when I said we were turning this into a family vacation! Merry Christmas to all. And to all a good night.

I Really Do Need To Get Our More

I'm trying to get my ducks in a row so I can pack what I need to take to Las Vegas this weekend. I'm trying to figure out what I can take that will be stylish yet cool, because it's supposed to be 187 degrees in Las Vegas this weekend. And in doing this, I'm realizing that I am totally out of my league.

I have been on a plane exactly twice in my entire 42 years of existence...once from West Virginia to Atlanta and then back again. I got up close and personal with the throw-up bags both times. Part of me thinks it has to do with being a control freak; if I can't drive my car there, I don't need to be there. Part of me thinks it has to be with my dreaded vertigo.

Lynne keeps checking on me making sure (1) I'm doing OK and (2)yes, I'm still going. I keep promising her I'll try not to do anything to embarrass her in the security lines. You don't have security lines at the campground. You don't have checked baggage vs. carry-on baggage at the campground...throw it all in the camper and off you go.

I went to the store this week to get Coke and snacks I know I can eat when I start to feel vertigo coming on. Can't take 'em. I keep changing my mind as to what carry-on bag I'm taking on the plane. Can't decide. There are too many decisions to make when flying.

I promise, promise, promise, I'm trying not to embarrass anyone, but this trip is sure to be a case of The Clampets Come to Town.

The Calendar...

...it's a terrible thing to waste. That noise you heard last night around 10:00ish Atlanta time was me screaming...in Lynne's ear nonetheless. We've had this trip to Las Vegas planned for her "big" birthday for awhile now. We toyed with several dates trying to get three couples together for the weekend. But between lining up babysitting, schedules, etc., it ended up only DH, me and the birthday couple were going to be able to go. Bummer.

When I turned my calendar from May to June, I realized I had written the wrong date. I had penciled in June 19th as our departure date. I knew that couldn't be right because we were leaving in July. So I rescheduled it for the third week in July - depart on the 17th, return on the 20th...happy birthday Lynne. Had babysitting all lined up; DH had vacation all lined up. Taking it easy until time to pack.

Last night, Lynne and I met at the park to walk (or play...). She called when she got home and got the crabby four in the bed. The best laid plans went a-rye when their neighbor was outside when she got home and they talked in the driveway until 9:30...which just happens to be an hour and a half past the babies' bedtime. Oopsie!

So we're talking on the phone and she's telling me about her neighbor having to transfer to Ohio because of work and he has to be there on July 14th, which is the day after we get back from Las Vegas. "No, it's the Monday before we leave for Las Vegas," I reply. "NO, it's the Monday AFTER WE GET BACK FROM LAS VEGAS!" "NO, WE LEAVE THURSDAY THE 17th". "UH NO..."

It took us a couple minutes to realize that neither of us was kidding. Oh, brother. DH is sitting on the couch listening. Then he realizes what I've done...planned around THE WRONG DATE! But the real kicker...there is no way, no how, notta, nuttin doing he can get off work next week. It's the one week his plant is shut down and he works doubles all week fixing all the machinery that breaks during the year. Geez. Panic starts to set in.

Of course, he's fine with me going without him...go, have a good time...see ya when you get home. But there's a little issue of a plane ticket with his name on it that he's not going to be able to use. Having flown ONCE in my entire 42 years of existence, you know why I didn't make the arrangements. So Lynne and I start racking our feeble little brains trying to figure out who can be the fourth person to go on the trip. Juju immediately comes to mind. Juju is the wife of the third couple we were trying to get to go with us. Their only hold-up was getting babysitting for four days. If she goes and hubs stays home, she only has to find babysitting for two days. Hello? Oldest Child? What are you doing on Thursday and Friday of next week? Yes, the day after you return from DANCE CAMP...Have I mentioned lately that I have been carting you back and forth to dance team practice this whole summer? And I provide a roof over your head 365 days a year? And I will pay you handsomely if you go move in Juju's house and babysit for me (I mean her...) for two days...great, I knew you would!

So guess what I've been doing today! Rearranging babysitting for OC and YC. Starting to think a little more seriously about what to pack because I got a week cut off my plan time. And, of course, charging the batteries in my palm pilot and making sure the calendar is up-to-date.

Serious Decisions

You'd be surprised how much clearer you can think while on vacation! With the toughest decision made all day being (1) whether to lie by the pool or on the beach and (2) whether we were grilling or eating out. Those two decisions made, that left many, many, many hours to contemplate the meaning of life and the like.

My favorite place in the whole world is the beach. I love the beach and the waves and the wind and the sand and the smell and the sea gulls and the everything else that accompanies the beach. In the time that DH and I have dated/been married, we have only missed vacationing at the beach on a couple of occasions. I have always said when I win $1 million, I will buy a house on the beach.

But then you have to decide what beach, house or condo, what kind of house, and all of the other tough questions associated with house-buying. I don't want a block away from the beach, I don't want in a beach city...I want to walk out my front door and be on the beach. I'm picky like that.

DH then proceeds to tell me the 1,000 reasons why, even if we could afford it, buying a house on the beach would be a bad idea. Insurance and hurricanes were at the top of the list...he is, after all, the practical one of the two.

This is our second year in a row vacationing at Camping on the Gulf in Destin. And yes, we have already booked next year's vacation. And this year, our major beach-house buying dilemma was solved. We won't buy a house on the beach when we win $1 million...we'll buy a top-of-the-line motor coach and park in on the front slot at Camping on the Gulf. Problem solved.

Why the change of heart? Think about it, dear internets. I won't have to buy homeowner's insurance for "beach property" because it won't be on the beach in case of a hurricane. I don't have to pick my favorite beach because I can park it at various and sundry beaches. I won't have to worry about hurting people's feelings when I tell them they can't stay at my beach house. When I retire because I'm a millionaire, I can also take my "beach house" around the country to all the Nascar cities I've wanted to visit. It's a win/ win situation. This dilemma checked off the list, there's no telling what world-wide problem I'll be able to solve while sitting on the beach next summer. I know...dream on, Alice; Wonderland is two doors down.

Going, Going, Gone...

...and back again. I have decided after a two-week break from "real life", that I could get used to being independently wealthy and being able to be on one constant vacation. We were camping the first week of spring break. We had beautiful weather and wonderful friends to share our experience. Oldest Child had another "unicycle dork" to ride with her, so she didn't feel isolated. She has almost mastered her new gianormous unicycle - I told you before we left she would. She proficiently rode around Roosevelt State Park on her "regular" unicycle. One camper even commented, wanting to know where the other half of her bicycle went.

We had beautiful weather every day except the day we were packing up to come home. Then on Monday morning, the girls and I headed off to my old stomping grounds of southeastern West Virginia. It was the longest I've ever driven without Dear Husband. But we made it fine and had a great time. I was able to visit with friends and family I hadn't seen in awhile. Youngest Child was able to help Grandma out in the yard. Oldest Child even guilt-ed Unce Carlito into leaving a whole house full of company to drive two hours to see her.

I will update throughout the week - hopefully with pictures from the trip...depending on how busy my technical assistant is this week. We took great pictures at The Little White House - hopefully it will get Oldest Child some brownie points in Social Studies since that's what they're studying now. The azaleas were beyond beautiful down near Callaway Gardens. A bunch of deer decided to visit us while we were at the Sims Bed and Breakfast (thank you, Anne and Randy, for opening up your home to me and my precious cherubs!).

But for now, after more than 1,300 miles on our vehicles, it's back to real life. Finishing up laundry, groceries, bills, lesson plans, menu planning, etc., etc.

A-Camping We Will Go

Our county is on spring break this week. It's Sunday afternoon and instead of being in my usual mad-Sunday-afternoon-get-ready-for-school-rush, I just woke up from a nap, I'm catching up on my blog reading, not quite finished with the laundry, and not worried because I have two whole weeks to get it done.

Well, not quite. Tomorrow we leave for a week in the wilderness. Well, not quite. Not sure if you call Roosevelt State Park "wilderness". But it is "nature" and there are "animals". We will be taking our camper, complete with running water and heat/ac. We will spend all week doing a whole lot of nothing. Dear Husband and Youngest Child will fish (a lot!). Oldest Child will try to master her new unicycle (another post for another day but my bet is she'll have it mastered by this time next week). I will try to finish up the two books I'm reading plus the three magazines I've been saving for occasions such as this. We are supposed to hook up with my old assistant principal who is now a principal down by where we're going.

Not sure how much blog-checking I'll be able to do while I'm there (I may go into withdrawals), but rest assured I'll be back next weekend with stories a-plenty and hopefully some pictures to match.

Things I've Learned on Summer Vacation

1. Never plan back to back to back trips for me or the kids.
2. When you are making plans for the summer, always refer back to rule #1.
3. When you set off on adventures for the summer, start off by counting counties you drive through. I bet if I'd have done that, I would be at 1,427 by now.

Let me explain. Back in January when it was cold and rainy and miserable outside, I found a really cool looking campground in Destin right on the beach. What could be better in the middle of January in the aforementioned weather than thinking about a warm (or hot) summer day with nothing but sunshine and sand. So the only available dates for us to go were the first week in June. That would work OK, because oldest child didn't have to leave for church camp until the Sunday after we got home. That would give me Saturday to do laundry and get her off to camp in north GA.

Then sometime during the spring, my girlfriend who has in-laws with a condo in the Savannah area invited us to go to the beach...you guessed it, the week oldest child was at camp. That would be good, that would give youngest child and me a week at the beach together with friends - a fun time to be had by all. And besides, it will be as easy to repack for three as it would for one. Dear Husband had to stay and work...who else is going to finance my life of luxury?? Then we would come home Friday, pick up oldest child, go to mother-in-law's house, rewash laundry, repack youngest child for a week at said church camp.

So in the span of 2 1/2 weeks, I have left Atlanta, driven to Destin, driven back to Atlanta, driven to north Georgia, driven to Savannah, driven to Atlanta, driven to north Georgia and finally driven home. I go back to north Georgia to pick up youngest child on Friday..I may not be ready to get back in my car by then...

The Real World

I would much prefer vacation life as opposed to real life. Last week, I had no cares in the world...just me, my family, a bunch of sand, some salt water, and a big, beautiful sun shining overhead. The toughest decisions I made all week were (1) whether to lay by the pool or the ocean and (2) whether to cook or go out to eat. Not bad if I do say so myself. We pulled the camper to the beach for the first time and had a beautiful week. Thank goodness the weather was sunny all week; I can't imagine 5 people living in a 25' travel trailer with no slideouts. Luckily, God understood my plight and we had beautiful weather all week. We had so much fun, we have even booked the same campground for next year's vacation.

I tried to blog while I was gone, honest I did. But even with free wireless internet at the campground, I couldn't figure out how make my computer connect (yes, I am hopeless when it comes to technology!)...so now vacation is over and we are back in the real world. Yes, I have been doing nothing but laundry, laundry, and more laundry since we got home. And I think I may even cook in tonight. Yes, vacations are nice and relaxing and a wonderful time to regroup and catch up on family time. But all good things must come to an end and it's back to the real world...I must run because I have a week's worth of bills sitting in the kitchen calling my name.