Dreaming of vacation

Whew. I’ve been working really hard lately. Not that I don’t work hard normally, but once you get into a routine, it gets easy. Right now, work is not routine. It’s a lot of problem solving, a lot of working out issues with new software. It’s actually a little fun because it’s so challenging, but it’s very demanding and hard to juggle with my daily work. I never could be part of IT – seems like their jobs are nothing but fixing problems. Constant problems. Sounds nightmarish.

In a few weeks, we’re taking off for our annual Michigan trip. And finally, a week off. Actually, 10 days to be exact. I haven’t had a full week off in a year. I shouldn’t complain, I have a lot of 3-day weekends, but still, a whole week off is different. You actually get to that place where you’re not forming to-do lists in your head constantly or planning out your schedule. I can’t wait.

We’ll be camping with my husband’s family. We’ve been doing it for, oh, 7 years maybe. It’s probably like the last thing on earth a lot of my family would want to do. They’d much prefer a Ritz Carlton. But we like it. We use to camp in a tent. And that was fine then. We upgraded to an air mattress a long time ago. No way would I sleep on the hard ground again. And just last year we went in on a pop-up camper with another couple. It has air conditioning and heat, among other things, like a king bed, and a full size bed and water and a fridge …

I used to think it wasn’t really camping if you have those amenities or I just wondered why people don’t just get a hotel room if they want all that. But I get it now. We all hang out all day with the family and all the kids. We walk around on trails, go to the pool, lay around and read. We’re just outside all the time. I love it. And at night we have campfires and just sit around and talk or play games. Eat s’mores. And the camper gives us a little space of our own, and an air-conditioned space at that.

We’ll take trips though. We usually take our nieces to the beach one day and stop at the local ice cream shop afterward. We’ll go to a parade in town. One day we might go downtown for shopping and lunch. I think Ella’s really going to have fun this year. And hopefully one day she’ll have fond memories of camping in Michigan …