spring broke

You are cordially invited to join Miss Ruthie at the pity party she is hostessing for herself.

Do they call it "pity" because you feel like you're in the pits? Just wondering.

I feel the way the sad face on my iPod screen looked, moments after it clicked ominously today and then stopped working. Apparently it heard us talking about an extended trip in the car and didn't think it was up to the task of keeping me entertained. And by being "entertained" I mean plugging in those ear buds and drifting away to my own little slice of harmonic heaven while the kids bicker and Jim listens to talk radio.

My iPod and I have a beautiful relationship. It keeps me company in the kitchen and in the bathroom. I take it to the dentist to supplement the novacaine. How am I going to survive a camping trip without it?

Around here spring break is a big hairy deal. Where we live there's a lot of wealth. Well, not specifically where we live, not in our house, per se. But in our general area.

Case in point -- yesterday Jim was invited to go to lunch with a friend of ours. So they hopped in his private plane and flew to pert near St. Louis. Oh yes ma'am. We are so jet set.

So when spring break rolls around, most families we know start talking about going to places like Cancun, St. Tropez, Virgin Islands.... My own son was invited to join his girlfriend's family on their trip to Grand Cayman. Yes, her mother AND father will be closely supervising and chaperoning AT ALL TIMES. No, there will be no alcohol consumed. It's really okay. I trust all parties involved.

Stop making that frowny, raised-eyebrow face.

Florida seems like a sub-par destination in comparison. But for our family, even Florida is out of reach. We don't do family vacations. I don't know how this happened. Somewhere in the unwritten code of our family description is a clause that reads, "no family trips will ever be taken just for fun unless they involve camping or visiting relatives."

It might have something to do with money. Just guessing. We work for God and He is SO faithful to meet our every need. We are blessed with many comforts, and we have no lack of provision. So clearly a family vacation that might include motels or airplanes is not a "need."

I have done an awful lot of camping, and we've made some good memories. It's just that in my experience, a camping trip doesn't really count as a vacation because I have to do the same things I do every day, just with less convenience and a less comfortable bed.

When our oldest son got married a year ago we all drove to California and back, with the pop-up. It ended up being somewhere around 6000 miles by the time we got home, and let me tell you I was plum tired of showering in my Crocs.

I'm really not grumpy or depressed. I don't even like lying on my back in the sand letting the sun soak into my grey tired chilly bones while I dip my tanned pink tootsies into sparkling teal salt water. I don't need a break from my routine. It's not at all stressful having a big hole where my kitchen window used to be.



One memorable spring break vacation was the time Jim took the kids and went up north while I stayed home, all by my glorious alone self, and cleaned the kids' rooms. Wheeee! You just can't get that kind of fun at a Caribbean resort, let me tell you.

This year, though, we will get to bring Lily with us on our camping trip. Her momma and daddy have declared her old enough to travel with Mimi and Pop (and Aunt Susie and Uncle G and Sadie dog) so that will sweeten the pot substantially. Pop even bought one of those little pull-behind bike carrier thingies for her, for when we all ride our bikes around the campground.

Life in the fast lane doesn't get any better than that.