Vacate

So I'd like to match the quality of my last post, but I think I was feeling particularly expressive and talented yesterday. Maybe it was brought on by the stress, or the special circumstances of my missing wallet, or maybe a combination of the two.

Yesterday was a big blur, with the walletless errands, and then having to get ready for our trip. Normally when we go on vacation, I start making lists weeks in advance. This has a lot of advantages, especially on the cost front. If you plan what you'll eat, you can bring some foods you have laying around at home. But trying to stay in the spirit of a real "vacation", I didn't even think about packing until an hour before departure. Then I packed "Joe style"; just throwing clothes into a bag, and hope you get everything you need.

This morning at the grocery store, instead of shrinking away by sticker shock, I decided not to look at the price, and just buy the food I like to eat. Some items that never make it into my cart, like Gruyere cheeses, made it in there today. Sure, there were moments when glancing back over to the items and their ridiculous prices, I wanted to give into my normal self, and take it all back out. But I stuck to my guts. The food was all dumped onto the belt, and rung up, and before I knew it, my credit card was swiped. Did I feel guilty? Not at all! After all, I'm on vacation. And we just about sold our house.

Our vacation came as a fun surprise. Joe's uncle Bill invited us to join him in Branson, MO, at some amazing timeshare houses. At the time of the invitation, we already had our contract for the house. I just couldn't, with a clear conscience, say no to that kind of offer from Bill. A few times I questioned my own sanity in taking off for 4 days, only a week before closing, and with still a million-and-a-half things on our to-do list, but now I think it might be just what the doctor ordered. We spent the day enjoying the fitness center, home theater, pools, lazy river, shuttle buses, and of course each others company.

I'm just not allowed to think about what's waiting for me when we get back......

Sterling with his 2nd cousin Will Benac (Billy and Kelsey's son)