I Need A Vacation!

I have been so busy at work lately and I just said the other day, "I need a vacation!" And then I remembered...I'm going on one next week. Thank goodness!

Bert and I are going to Savannah at the end of next week, and I can hardly wait. Don't you love a 3-day work week? Oh yes, next Wednesday will be my Friday. Thursday morning, I will awake with anticipation of a road trip which will lead us to a place I've always wanted to visit. I am excited to walk River Street and enjoy lots of seafood and time at the beach.

Of course knowing that I'm getting ready for a trip makes me think of trips past that stand out in my mind. I remember when my parents took the whole family to Orlando. I can still remember the first (well, and only) time I saw Epcot Center. I was trying to play this celebrity trivia game (oh goodness...I guess the obsession began at quite a young age!) and this man was looking over my shoulder trying to tell me answers. I was livid. I stormed off, aghast that anyone dare doubt my knowledge of celebrity. I was probably about 9.

I also remember a trip to India my family took when I was 7. We went for my uncle's wedding, and I had on this gorgeous red and gold outfit. This little girl, probably about 2, was trying to snatch my ruputa off. That's the part of Indian outfits that are either worn on your head or on your shoulders. She ticked me off.

At some point, my parents took us to the Ozarks of Missouri. We stayed at this wonderful resort called Tan-Tar-A (http://tan-tar-a.com). The trip started out just fine. We visited the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder where my mom was transported back in time to when she was a child and loved her books so much. I remember eating a giant stack of pancakes, riding a horse that wouldn't stop pooping and ice skating to Damn Yankees' "High Enough." Then it happened. I was told I was too young to use the Tan-Tar-A gym. I was so mad they wouldn't let me use the gym. I might've been 12 or so, but I was angry and felt that I deserved to use the facility since I was staying at their resort. Boy was I mad. I remember stomping all the way back to the room, looking back, and seeing my parents laughing at how ridiculous I was being.

And do I even need to go into college spring breaks? You go to Florida with your best group of friends and everybody ends up mad at some point. I just remember being so grateful to go to Chick-Fil-A at the end of our Destin trip, knowing the drama would end as soon as we crossed the Alabama state line.

For my honeymoon, we went to New Orleans. Eating at Emeril's was wonderful, but I can't help but remember how I yelled at the man on the street who scammed $20 out of Bert. I yelled at Bert for being stupid and I really yelled at the scammer. I yelled, "SCAM!" at the top of my lungs at him, and other people were completely supporting me. "YEAH HE IS!" another man yelled back. I was so angry.

My goal is for this trip to be void of my angry moments. I'm sure something will have the capability to tick me off, but I'm determined not to let it. In our minds, we build vacations up to be the most wonderful, perfect getaways to paradise. Then we get there, have fun, and end up getting ticked off just like we could've done at home at something or another.

Don't get me wrong...I have very much enjoyed most of my vacations. But I don't want to let anything get to me this time around. I don't want to waste an hour being mad when I could've been having a wonderful time shopping at the cute stores in Savannah. I plan on taking everything in stride. I want to focus on enjoying a new city, eating fabulous cuisine, getting tan and taking in all the beautiful sights.

After all, I'll have plenty of time to get ticked off when I return to work, desperately wishing for a vacation to get over being exhausted from the vacation.