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July 10, 2005

My life is currently consumed with preparing for our upcoming vacation to South Carolina. My mom rented a condo at the beach -- okay, a fifteen-minute walk from the beach, but it has its own swimming pool, which is a reasonable tradeoff in my opinion -- for us, herself, and all my siblings for an entire week. Keith requested a week and a half off from work, so we're leaving a few days earlier than the rest of the clan in order to have a more leisurely drive. This is important when you have a 17-month-old who starts screaming nonstop if she's confined in her carseat for longer than two hours, and a 3-year-old who realizes he needs to use the potty approximately thirty seconds before it becomes an emergency involving the use of an empty 7-up bottle we found in the backseat.

Anyway. We're packing up our camping gear so that we can camp out the first night, probably somewhere in West Virginia. Then depending on how that goes, we may also camp the second night, probably somewhere in North Carolina. We want to stop in Charlotte and see the aquarium. Then on day 3 we arrive at the beach condo with the rest of the family and unpack for a week of poolside relaxation, sand castles, and air-conditioned board gaming.

I can't wait.

But the trip prep is really quite onerous, for lack of a better term. We already got our TripTik and maps from AAA, but I have to call them back and request a new TripTik because originally we were going to stop in Washington, D.C. but now we're not, so our route is all different, and dammit, I have to have a TripTik. We also have to call the body shop and harass them about fixing our bumper before Friday. And we have to contact the post office to hold our mail for the week, and we have to notify Zeke's preschool that he'll be out for a week, and I have to drop my potted plants off at my grandparents' house so they can get watered, and we have to make campsite reservations if that's even possible at this late date, and we have to scrub the kitchen floor (WE JUST DO, OKAY?), and we have to go to Target and buy sunscreen, sand toys, beach towels, and possibly a good supply of magazines, and we have to stop at the library and return everything that's due and pick up the reserved books that came in so I have additional reading material on the trip, and oh yeah, we should probably pack, and... AAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!

I also have an indexing project deadline this week. Did I mention that? And, our stove went on the fritz last Thursday and they're bringing the new one tomorrow, so that should be extra exciting. Although I will say that it will be nice to actually, you know, make eggs in the morning again. And maybe bake a potato now and then. You can only do so many things on a BBQ grill, and making an omelet is not really one of them.

Anyway, after the kids are in bed tonight, Keith and I are going to use some of our precious alone time to plan out what sightseeing we want to do on the way to South Carolina, and then what sightseeing we want to do when we actually get to South Carolina. He has expressed an interest in seeing Charleston and Fort Sumter, as he has never been to either. I am cool with this; the rest of my family may not be, as I believe they are, shall we say, full up on their Charleston-visiting quota, but we can always part ways for a day. In fact, towards the end of the week, that might be a Very Good Thing. It's been a long time since we all lived under the same roof for any length of time. ...A very long time.

But don't get me wrong, I think the whole trip is going to be a hoot. Assuming we actually manage to get packed and leave in time, and don't get lost on the way there, and don't get eaten by a bear in West Virginia, and so forth. Here's hoping.

Posted at July 10, 2005 9:20 PM

Posted by: Heidi at July 11, 2005 4:00 AM

Posted by: Kristy at July 11, 2005 10:37 AM

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