For those who know us well, a weekend trip away is what most of you expect now. Two days before a quick trip, we hear comments like, "where are you going?" People at my work give me no end of crap. They say that I am on a perpetual vacation. I do get a lot of vacation through my job, and I try to use it every chance I can get. Life is too short to hoard and save 4-6 weeks of vacation in a year. As it stand now, I have 400 hours in the bank and that 's after all the mini-vacations. Reba and I didn't have a chance to go around our anniversary, so last Friday, I got on the internet and started looking for tickets up and down the west coast. We found great deals to fly into San Jose. We left for the weekend with the help of my parents and Reba's mom. They are the real backbone of the operation. Without their help, these vacations would not be a reality.
Because our life is mostly about the planning and shuttling kids around, we decided not to plan our trip more than the hotel and rental car. When we showed up to get the car, they said that they didn't have our class of car. Reba made the comment, "a convertible would be just fine. Long story short, we got the mustang, red, convertible and we were off. After a good night sleep and coffee to rev us up, we started off towards San Francisco. The top was down, the sun was out, and Reba's hair was snarled and beautiful. We had a great time. Reba used to live in San Mateo, so she drove me around there and we decided to head down the coast instead. We drove to Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Carmel. We stopped when we wanted to, ate when we wanted to, and actually had many conversations that were complete and whole. It was relaxing and felt like we were millions of miles away from Seattle. We felt like we were dating again, but this time, Reba was of legal drinking age. We fell in love with the car, and I have to say for the record, Reba was quite comfortable weaving in and out of California traffic. We came home Saturday night, flying first class, and ended the mini-vacation without a hitch.
Going away gives you some good perspective. You begin to miss the kids and you can actually start seeing the aerial view of you life. You are calmer, more relaxed, and you life seems to fall into place. But, before you know it, all of that starts closing in once you walk through the door. Today, was great with the kids. We went to church and had a great time. We worked in the yard and enjoyed the sun and then went to beach for my Aunt's 60th birthday celebration. We had great food, the kids played in the water and it was back to normal. Three skinned knees, two bloody elbows, one skinned foot, and one child, who we shall keep nameless, pooping in his bathing suit even though we took him to the restroom three times. Our first aid kit was back in business. Life is good again. There is some comfort knowing that things don't change that much when your gone. It makes the times you leave, wonderful and the times you come back, even better. Have a great Monday and enjoy the sun if you live in Seattle.
Robb (Rested and ready for the week)
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