In their infinite wisdom, my school system decided to give a 10 day spring break this year. Now, don't get too excited. It is the first time they've done that pretty much since I can remember (both as a student and a teacher) and much like Halley's Comet, it probably won't happen again for another 90 years. So, naturally, we decided that we'd take advantage of this rare and (probably) once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and travel to sunny Florida (with a pit stop in Savannah, Georgia).
Spring Break was everything I'd hoped for and more. Sun, fun, and lots of eating (gonna be squeezing into my fat girl jeans for the next month until I can run the calories off). And lots of little life lessons. Here are just a few:
1. You need to put my mother-in-law's minivan in park before you operate the automatic doors. How do I know this? Because she told us...every single time we stopped...the entire 6 days of our trip. (Love you, Mom, and we know you just wanted us to know. ;) ).
2. Sunscreen is for the tops of your feet too. My worst sunburn? Tops of my feet, which I didn't bother to lotion up because they were already sandy from the beach when I was applying sunscreen. Ouch! Good news is that I wore sandals or crocs most of the trip, so it was all good.
3. When reminding the kids to go pee before they get on a boat that has no bathroom, remember to go yourself. The "why" of this will become more apparent in #4, but let's just say I didn't go before we left.
4. If you are going to jump out from the boat into the ocean to pee (hey, fish do it!), make sure you know the location of the ladder to GET BACK ON or that you have the upper body strength to pull your fat arse back onto the boat so that your panicked son (yeah, the teen) doesn't ask, "Are we going to have to leave Mom in the ocean?" and your husband doesn't give himself a hernia pulling you up into the boat, scraping up most of your side and bruising your knee. (Side note: they DID finally find the ladder--AFTER I was back on the boat).
5. My brother-in-law cannot give directions, nor does he realize that when people are following him, he should probably SLOW DOWN and NOT change lanes every 2 seconds like he is in a NASCAR race (especially when at least 2 of my kids are in HIS car).
6. Plan more trips around my birthday. I got gifts (thanks to Tony's aunt & cousin), sung to several times, and made over. Happy birthday to me!
7. Family time is the best time. I have teens. Seems hard to believe, but they will soon be adults and doing their own vacations (even the youngest is almost 10--how did THAT happen?). I treasure the time I have with them now. Not to mention, we got to spend time with Tony's family, some of whom we almost never get to see.
So, tomorrow, spring break will end and it will be back to grindstone for me. But it was a wonderful 10 days.
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