Vacation?

I've vacationed in Florida every year since I was six months old, so I dared to believe that, aside from a whole lotta nothin, there was not much to expect on my zillionth trip down there this past time.

Alas, any trip that starts with a plan to stay at my parents brand new house -- only to find that "brand new" in this definition meant no carpet, no couches, no hot water -- and evolves into a 12 day stay at an Embassy Suites is going to be anything but boring.


There were highs: Two perfect angels on the airplane that made even the surliest passengers salute in appreciation upon their departure, incredibly warm weather, time with my brother on the cusp on his engagement, a TJ Maxx that sells Seven jeans in reasonable sizes, kids who were so exhausted by the end of each day that they slept until 10:00, a daughter who put up with a ridiculously small travel crib, a son who finally defied his laz-boy demeanor and rolled onto his side (of course to visit me in the middle of the night, when he should be in HIS OWN CRIB), the Embassy Suites Manager's Party - where at 5:00 they have an open bar and snacks (we are instituting this at my house from now on), a king sized bed with room for four...

And the lows: A middle of the night hotel evacuation because some drunk fool pulled the fire alarm, blistering argument with my mother borne mainly of the fact that no one should vacation with their parents for this long regardless of how old they are, the awareness that if you are out of shape, wearing an out of shape bathing suit only makes you look worse, poop in the swim diaper (there is nothing more vile than this) and all you can eat buffets that pretty much kill that resolution to stop eating mini versions of things...

All in all, your typical family trip. I am glad to be home, sad to be home and just pretty much exhausted. I have some exciting topics that I would love some input on, including the topic of friendships and their return on investment and coping with the end of (spousal) courting. Stay tuned.

PS: New for 2008 - I also now blog here: http://svmomblog.typepad.com/nyc_moms/.
You can search me by name via the "categories" sidebar on the right, but I recommend perusing all of the entries. These are a great group of gals. This probably blows any shred of anonymity that I might have had, but after all I have shared here -- welcome to the family.