Last Saturday, late in the afternoon, Tetris and I took off for our vacation. We drove until we were roughly 300 miles away from our destination and stopped for the night. On Sunday, we got back on the road and checked in to our hotel early enough to enjoy a little afternoon stroll and check out the local cuisine. I should point out that we are on the coast somewhere in the deep south, so the local cuisine is mainly seafood. And tasty, oh so very tasty.

The plan was simple, flawless, perfect. Kick back, enjoy, and watch the world go by. We had planned on going inland mid-week to visit family, with our trips inland bookended by relaxing with our toes in the sand.

It started out so well. For the first couple of days, we did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. We dug our toes in the sand, felt the wind on our face, wandered around Old Town. We took a carriage ride, rented a two seater scooter (which is a blog all in its own), climbed to the top of a lighthouse, strolled back streets, did a little pub crawling (what?), and pretty much had the time of our lives.

After getting some work in Wednesday morning, we road tripped inland, met up with an old friend of mine, saw some family and headed back to our hotel. We took a midnight stroll on the beach, watched the stars, and talked of the plan for Friday to spend the day on the beach again.

Thursday morning brought more work, which I didn’t mind overly much. Afterwards, we drove to see more family, much further south and on the other side of the state. The plan was to spend the day, drive back that night, with me looking forward to doing nothing on Friday but watching the waves roll in.

How does that phrase go? Oh, right…

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

We didn’t make it back to our hotel until late Friday night, with yours truly still trying to digest the big fat bombshell dropped on Thursday night. Hell, I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it.

Check out is in about thirty minutes, and then we are back on the road. It’s been a good trip, all in all. I saw family that I love and adore, spent some time with my oldest son, giggled and laughed a lot with Tetris, and even had fun doing a hell of a lot of driving.

But I didn’t get that last moment in the sun. I guess I shouldn’t complain, it’s been fun. But dammit, wah! The sun is hidden behind clouds today. Mutter, grumble, complain.

We’ll be home tomorrow. I can’t wait to tell you about our scooter misadventure And share a picture or two.

See ya!

I have not, outside of a trip to Chicago for a family reunion (and I’m so not talking about what a fucking nightmare that ended up being), had a vacation since I was 12.

No, really.

Right after the maternal unit kicked it, the adopted paternal unit took my sister and I away for a week or so.  Since then, the most I’ve gotten is the odd three day weekend here or there.  Look at my age, do the math.  That’s a long fucking time.

Not to say I’ve never had paid time off.  Sure I have.  But it’s either been used up moving (oh fuck me with a chainsaw, how I hate to move) or dealing with some kid issue.  Or the one time I took a whole week off of work to have some, uh, shall we say, elective surgery.

*cough*

Anyway.  Yeah.  Vacations?  That’s what other people do.  That’s what them guys over there do.  My boss does, my coworker does.  Everyone except yours truly.

This year, I hoarded my vacation time.  Well, as much as one could hoard with all the stuff I had going on around me.  Blah blah, moving on.

Provided that nothing goes wrong, and dear Goddess I have not posted this up to now because I’m afraid of jinxing it, Tetris and I hit the open highway sometime Caturday and road trip our happy asses down to… somewhere that I’m not telling.

And there yours truly shall spend a glorius five or six days laying in the sun (shut up about skin cancer, this bitch donut care), relaxing, and remembering what it is like to be a human being again.  A human being, not a human doing.

I can haz reelackzayshun?

more animals

No, really… read it.

*ahem*

No comment other than a hearty guffaw, a rolling of the eyes, and a deep sigh of sadness at the state of the world.

In the summer of 1988 I was slender, tanned, bleached blonde, not yet 21, and living life in all the wrong ways. I was a single mother who partied a little too much and stayed home a little too little. It was at one of those parties that I met her. A striking redhead, vibrant and beautiful. She was in the center of a large crowd when a mutual friend introduced us. We cliqued almost immediately. And thus began my long term love/hate relationship with Christi.

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