Only 95 Hours and 8 Minutes To Go

Confession time: I have gone into my Outlook calendar at work at least twice each day for the past two weeks for the sole purpose of setting it to week-at-a-glance view and looking at next week.

Why next week?

Because August 16-23 just so happens to be all in purple.

Why in purple?

Because purple = out of office.

I can't remember ever wanting lusting after needing a vacation this bad. Not quite sure why, although my guess is that there is both carrot and stick involved here.

The stick is the crazy of the past month. The Husband's been gone almost as much as he's been here, and it's been a whirlwind. Actually, if I stop and think about it, I'd say that we've been in a whirlwind since last September. In some ways, I blame the school system (hello, Homework!), but I also blame myself (hello, trying to do too much with too little!). I'm working towards changing that, but that is another post for another day.

The carrot is the anticipation of a really fantastic time with my family. I have amazing memories of last year's trip. It's not just the golden glow of selective recollections of only the good times. I distinctly remember thinking, "wow, I have never been this relaxed on a family vacation before."

As the kids get older, certain things become so very much easier. (Certain things become so very much harder, but that, too, is another post for another day.) My kids are a heckuva lot of fun to be around, and that just gets better every day. They're always making me laugh.

Even better, they're old enough to be trusted to know where the limits are and stay within them (well, most of the time). I can actually look up at the scenery when we're out and about, rather than always keeping my head bent downwards to ensure I keep little ones about to take off always within reach. They're excited by what we show them and actively contribute to our enjoyment level.

Altogether, it's a mighty cocktail that leads to much clockwatching and impatient foot-tapping even as I pale a bit when I see the list of things to do before we go. But at least I'm not The Husband. He's on part 32 of 473 of the "let's change the brakes on one car and the shocks on the other one and maybe I'll do your headlight, too, just for the fun of it."