Counting down at the anderson house has put what would normally be the leisure first week of Daniel's summer vacation into high gear. Even he has a project that has to be done before we leave. Having begun his own adventures in freelance design he is working like mad at his own new business, tying up a CD project and a website for a friend. I am so proud.
I am under a pile of papers and other such terribly boring work that I just can't focus on, and who could being this close to a dream vacation. So instead of doing the work I sit here blogging and sipping my coffee hoping to work up the steam to cross the finish line. And of course there are all the other little things to do, like dyeing and braiding Daniel's hair. He has wanted it dreaded and after hours of labor with a tease comb and only eight dreads to show for it I became discouraged. Not just because of the time it took, but his hair is just so shiny, healthy, and utterly undreadable that what was resulting was a little too frizzy, so he is now opting for braids. That I can do.
And I must clean the house. And I keep remembering other little things that I need to do and add to the master list. But honestly for the first time in our vacation taking lives we could probably drop everything and go and the sky wouldn't fall. This is a miracle. Previous trip prep in the anderson house have consisted of the fire alarm scramble of Bryan staying up all night finishing a last minute chart for the one church service that he would be missing, while I dutifully packed his clothes for him. Not only are we not functioning in that kind of crisis mode in order to deserve one week off, we can actually have four weeks. I have these moments of utter disbelief that leave me with a lump in my throat. Like yesterday, on the way to pick up Bryan from work I just burst into tears.
I guess that is why when I was little my mother would not tell me in advance if we were doing something special. Because the times that she did I would get so worked up with excitement that I would ultimately make myself ill and not get to go. Fast forward to today and it is no different. In fact Bryan has taken to poking fun at me when I am flipping through the travel books because I can only do a few pages at a time before shutting the book with a heavy sigh. At this he makes a popping sound to symbolize an aneurism. So if I don't return from this trip dear friends you will know that it was because my heart gave out in front of a Botticelli or some other such thing.
Hey, what a way to go.
But really what it all means is that I couldn't be more grateful that we get this opportunity. This year has been such a blessing in the wake of a few hard years of transitions that the contrast keeps giving me pause. And to top it off yesterday Bryan came home with a raise.
Wow.
And now I look at the clock and the bottom of my coffee cup and realize I better get to it. My red pen is poised over the master list. Two more days to go.
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