On Vacation .... sort of

"A vacation frequently means that the family
goes away for a rest,
accompanied by a mother
who sees that the others get it.
Marcelene Cox

It's been awhile since my last post. I've had a few ideas of things to write about but few moments to write them. Most of last week was spent in an intensive cleaning marathon getting ready for company. Funny, I thought I'd covered every square inch of the house with a dust cloth dripping in Pledge. I looked up, last night at dinner and noticed I completely missed the cob webs on the chandelier over the dining room table. Oh well! The pins are out of the carpet which I consider a definite cleaning coup, especially after all the sewing I did.

My sister, her daughters, two of her grandchildren and her son-in-law arrived for a short visit on Sunday night. The trip from the west coast is always a killer. It takes all day and a couple of plane changes to get here. Once you arrive and have had time to stretch your legs out to their normal size, get reacquainted with people you haven't seen in forever, and found something decent to eat to stop the gurgling in your stomach it's time to go to be. Only problem is your body is still on PST. It thinks it's only 8pm. That usually means you go to bed, lie awake tossing and turning then fall into a deep sleep about the time you thought you were going to get up and start the vacation. Sometime around 5:00 the next day, your body time and the real time begin to get into a rhythm that works. When there are 6 travelers, two of them only 6 years old, this time delay can spell trouble. Miraculously, so far so good!

It's been a long while since this old house has had so many people in it. The children are particularly shy, but fun to watch. There are so many conversations going, not to mention cameras flashing, that it's hard to know which direction to lean my ear. I don't want to miss anything.

And then there is the food. Even though I stocked the larder quite well before the visitors came, I believe someone has been to the grocery store every day, sometimes twice. There are family favorites to stock up on (clam dip, nuts and bolts, and Little Debbies), specialty foods (spicy hummus, S'mores and Pale Ale), birthday requests (Carrot cake and Baskin Robbins Mint chocolate chip log roll), milk, cheese and fruit. Yesterday Dad rose to the occasion and smoked a turkey. It was an all day process requiring extra hands and some pain medication, but well worth it. I should have been taking notes as I doubt he'll being doing it again.

Yesterday the gang went to the beach; today they are baking themselves at the zoo. It is a time to be grateful for a swimming pool in the back yard - a place to float and stay cool. When everyone is here, the walls vibrate with conversation, personality and family. When the gang leaves at night to go back to the hotel, the quiet that settles over the house makes me feel lonelier than before. I fall into bed grateful for the rest, yet my mind tries to guess what's going on across town in the La Quint Inn. Am I missing something?

Sweetie is outside sitting on the steps to the pool. It looks too inviting to ignore. Don't worry, I'll be back. And I'll bring pictures! Nothing like a good slide show of vacation pictures to put everyone right to sleep!

Sweet vacation dreams!
Merry ME

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