Vacation, all I ever wanted...

Ah, vacation. It was way too short. Anne and Greg, again, rented FancyPants (which is not called FancyPants anymore) and all 15 of us hightailed it to the beach. I don't know what was different about this year. The week seemed to go by really, REALLY quickly. Maybe because we all "knew" the house and weren't quite as impressed by it all? I can't put my finger on it.

I impressed the kids and the hubster by actually getting in the ocean, not once, but twice! And I got in the pool every day but one.

The storms were pretty impressive. Once really and truly did look like the mothership in the clouds. But, luckily, the lights stayed on. Or maybe unluckily. Last year when the lights went out is when everyone kind of bonded.

I'm kind of ready for the Las Vegas trip...kinda. I'm a little worried about taking another week off. I hope what I'm doing with the church makes up for the vacations. But it IS the summer. I'm pretty much homebound for the school year because of my job. Ah well, I can only do what I can do. They either love me or they don't.

OH, and I'm .2 lb lighter than I was before I left for the beach. I really think it's the birth control pills. But I ache so badly when I don't take them. What to do, what to do.

My first Biker Week

Yep, you read that correctly. Yours truly went to Panama City Beach for Biker Week. Okay, so that's a bit of a stretch...we were there Friday and Saturday (traveled Thursday and Sunday) so technically it was my first Biker Weekend.

I don't know what I was expecting. Not much. And that's what I got. But mostly because it was rainy on Friday. We checked into what must have been the cheapest motel on the strip. Our room smelled like mildew and could only be accessed through the back of the motel through a glass sliding door. "Security" was a bitty lock. No maid service...if you wanted clean towels, you had to exchange the dirty ones between 10 am and 12:30 pm. So hanging out in the room during the storms? Not really my cup of tea. Since it was rainy, that let out the pool, jacuzzi (not that I would have put a toe in that motel's jacuzzi) and beach were out. But there was a lovely theatre nearby and IronMan 3 had opened that day, so that's where we went. Eating out was interesting since we had a group of 9. Almost always a wait because everywhere was already packed and a group of 9 doesn't get seated easily.

Saturday there was rain in the morning but the afternoon was sunny and bright. We hit Thunder Beach and got to see some "sights."

I don't understand what prompts any female to dress provocatively in public. Maybe they really love showing off their bodies. Maybe they don't really fully "appreciate" how ridiculous they look stuffing (or unstuffing, as the case may be) their bodies in to skimpy, skintight or non-age-appropriate get-ups. Maybe they think that they have to look skanky since it's Biker Week. Maybe they just wanna get laid. I don't know. But only having a couple hours of sun, apparently I didn't get to fully enjoy the sights of Biker Week. And with the weather, the normal sitting on the side of the road looking at the bikes go by like they are on parade didn't happen. At least for me.

But there's always next year. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to that...especially since our group is supposed to get larger which will make traveling and dining that much more hard. But I love the friends that we go with and next year we'll add a baby to the mix, so there will definitely be something to look forward to.

There's no place like home!

Home again, home again, jiggedy jog! How wonderful it was to pull into the driveway. Since I haven't blogged since the beginning of December (and I totally blame Facebook on that!), our trip to Israel seems like it just got plunked on our plate. In reality, Luther Rice put together a Holy Land tour. Kenny suggested his services as a videographer with a paid tour. :) That didn't fly, but through God's blessings, Ken and Sandra paid for the two of us to go. We somehow made it off the waiting list and onto the tour AND got my leave on a critical day approved (of course, that critical day ended up being a snow day so all the worry was for naught).

10 days of touring the Sea of Galilee and its environs, the Dead Sea and then finally making our way to Jerusalem. It was exhausting, overwhelming, yet easily makes my top ten list of things that have majorly impacted my life. I don't think I'll sing a hymn, praise song or listen to a sermon or Bible lesson without remembering the sights I saw or the teachings I participated in. I can't wait for Wednesday to see how this trip impacts Kenny's teaching with the youth or for next Sunday when discussions during Sunday school and Ken's sermon will take on a whole new meaning.

My mom, the incomparable Neena the Great, came up for the first 5 days to keep the fires at the old Homestead burning. She and Bill just got done with a River Cruise so her coming up was a true miracle. I don't know that I could have left without her being here...one of those things that you don't know will mean so much until the moment comes.

I hope that we can someone take the kids on a Holy Land tour. I know how it affected me as a 40 year old, I can only imagine how it would have affected my life if I'd done it when I was their ages.

I met so many people that I will remember forever. They have touch my life and touched my heart.

Tonight, as I hit 40+ hrs without sleep (the dozing between stomach cramps on the 10 hr flight between Tel Aviv and Newark doesn't count) I'm emotional and not able to make much sense. Suffice it to say that I wouldn't have missed that opportunity for the world, but as Dorothy said at the end of the Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home."

Spring Break 2009

How can it be that there is only one day left of Spring Break? It's kind of sad, really. We had such a good time at Disney. We don't usually do anything for school breaks. We don't go anywhere because of money and I'm too lazy to plan anything in the Atlanta area. I need to do better at that because I only have a few years left with all the kids still at home. As it is I'm feeling guilty about tomorrow. We didn't have a chance to go shopping for Easter outfits before the trip and no one felt like shopping this morning. Lorie's wearing an old outfit of mine, Meg's wearing an old outfit of Lorie's, Jo got a dress from someone at church and I ran to Dress Barn between big Kenny's softball games this afternoon after I tried on some of mom's spring dresses and didn't find any that fit right (darn it all). Plus, I haven't done a single thing for Easter baskets. Feeling kind of like the worst mom in the world right now, but then I have to realize that the kids are still on a Disney high right now. That should come to a screeching halt pretty quickly once they realize that there's no food in the house. But for right now, all is well in the world.