FOCUS!

Dishes make for a happy marriage

Well Cyber World (I kind of think of you as my imaginary friends),

I am incredibly unmotivated today.  Like SERIOUSLY lacking focus.  My list of things to do before the holidays is huge and looming and I don't think I've crossed a single thing off.  I tried to start some laundry and wandered down there a little while ago to switch it to the dryer only to discover that I never pressed start. I surfed pinterest for awhile and found this great picture (see right).  I posted something funny on FB and then obsessively replied to comments; I even inserted myself into an iPhone v droid discussion, but other than that, NADA.  NOTHING.

Oh, I did reserve some plane tickets!  Just for my DH and me.  We've gotten away, just the 2 of us, nearly every year as long as my kids weren't nursing.  I am a seriously lucky girl and my mother in law is amazing.  She asks repeatedly, "When are you guys going away so I can keep the kids?!"  She literally takes off work so she can watch our children and we can get away.  Our kids love it and are usually somewhat disappointed when we come back after 4 days (I can't blame them - she really treats them well).  It is one of the many things that I have on my list of, "What I'll Do for My Grown Kids." (which would make a good blog someday)

We've been to Jamaica, Vegas, New Orleans, Vancouver, Atlanta, and when money is tight (like this year), we multi-task and tack our trip onto a conference that my DH already needs to go to.  Personally, those are my favorite trips.  I spend all day reading or site-seeing and then meet up with my DH (sometimes we rendezvous in a BAR!) for dinner and save the best sites for when we are together.  I get some much needed alone time and we get some much needed couple time; Where we remember why we like each other and we get to hold on a conversation that doesn't involve the finer points of the most recent Fairly Odd Parents episode or the awesome soccer moves performed during the last game (admittedly, I do generally have to hear about fantasy football... please tell me that is over by January?!) We do all sorts of things totally impractical with kids, like only use public transportation, go to places that are a little racy, eat at really quaint non-chain restaurants (that don't serve chicken nuggets), and sleep in.  I know, we are living on the edge! Reckless!

I love these trips, even if it is only a long weekend.  I pretty much live from vacation to vacation anyway.  I love planning them and with next summer's cross-country National Park Nomad voyage so far off, I really needed something to live for...

So... come January, I'll leave the deep freeze of Middle America... and I'll hop off the plane at LAX with a dream and my cardigan...  

I may even walk in the sand and dip my feet in the ocean!

Oh Gesh!  The kids just over-heard me talking about plans and my poor 8 year old DD is seriously (and dramatically) distraught that she isn't joining us in LA, even though we are staying by the airport and no where near Selena Gomez.  My DD is convinced that she was meant to be a starlit and is destined to be "found" if she just walks the streets of "Hollywood" (spoken with an air of haughtiness and arms out-stretched).  And honestly, what worries me more is that I think she might be right.  I should probably sign her up for Children's Theater but keep her really far from Cali.

12/9/11 Update - I should have stuck with doing NOTHING on Tuesday.  The LA trip isn't going to pan out as my DH's portion of the conference got canceled :0(   Ah well, such is life.  I'm not ready to be discovered yet anyway...