Our Un-Vacation

Just like Alice in Wonderland had a Very Merry Un-Birthday, we just finished up a Very Merry Un-Vacation. For quite a while, Andrew & I had been trying to decide what to do to get away for a few days before summer was over, and then we realized, summer WAS over! Emma starts school on Tuesday and we hadn't ever done anything!

We thought about going to Vegas, California, Pinetop, and a few other places, but honestly, I just didn't feel like riding in the car or on a plane to go anywhere! Besides, if you travel, you have to pay for gas, hotel, and food so you feel guilty spending money to actually go DO anything. So, Andrew had an epiphany. What if we had an un-vacation? Would it be possible? What if we just stayed home & had our very own relaxing weekend without the kids? Then we could go spend money doing things we NEVER do & wouldn't die of shock when we got home to our depleted bank account balance! We were still stewing over how to accomplish this feat when Aunt Robyn solved all of our problems. I was talking about what we were wanting to do, and she actually VOLUNTEERED to take our kids off our hands so that we could just spend time together & relax. WHAT A WOMAN!!!!

So Friday afternoon we dropped the kids off at Robyn's house & the fun began. This was our first ever night away from Frank, and Emma has only spent the night at Grandma & Grandpa's once for about 7 hours before we got there, so this was huge for us, especially me. I was DESPERATE for some time away from the kids, but was very nervous about actually being away from them for 3 whole days. Luckily, we have very independent kids that were awesome for "Aunt Wobby" & cousin Hailey, and I managed to not get too crazy for them until Sunday came around. Thus, everyone was happy & excited to be back together again when the weekend was over. Now we can get Emma started in school tomorrow & see how this new phase in our family's life is going to go.

Here's a blow-by-blow of my awesome Un-Vacation. Remember, this was Andrew's idea, and he planned most of it for me. What a great guy!

Friday:

-Drop the kids off & go eat all by ourselves! I didn't want to eat too much because I didn't want to be too full for the next activity- you'll see why. So we hit Eegee's & shared a roast beef sub. Yum!

- Andy's 1st great idea- MASSAGES! We booked massages at SpaOne. They have a GREAT deal for 1st time customers- an hour-long massage for just $39! (Even my prenatal one.) My massage therapist made fun of me for almost falling asleep & being so relaxed that she had to literally lug my arms & legs around to work on them. Hey, what can I say? I was bound & determined to enjoy myself, and I did!

-Next we wandered around Best Buy for an hour or so- what's an hour when you don't have kids screaming, climbing out of the cart, and knocking stuff off the shelves?

- Andy's 2nd great idea- a dessert lounge called Something Sweet (on Speedway just east of Craycroft). We've always wanted to try this place, but thought that it would be too expensive or fancy to take the kids. But honestly, if you live in Tucson, you've GOT to try this place! You can get amazing desserts for as little as $4! And they have all sorts of board & card games for the customers to play, so it's very low-key & relaxed. I loved it, and will be visiting it again soon, even with the kids!

- Home to an empty, quiet house. No tears yet, I was just excited to climb into bed knowing that I could sleep in as long as I wanted to the next morning!

Saturday:

-SLEEPING IN UNTIL 10:00!!!! Need I say more?

- A nice leisurely breakfast & watching whatever I wanted to on TV. Amazing.

- Nap, anyone? Yes, please!

- Andy's 3rd great idea- After naps, we got dressed & headed to town to try Mama Louisa's Italian Restaurant on Craycroft, just south of 29th St. I've heard that it's a Tucson legend, and now I know why. The food was AWESOME, and the service was great. Andy & I actually felt like newlywed lovebirds for a while- except that my big pregnant belly kept banging into the table. Well, we could pretend, couldn't we? If you go, be sure to try the fried zucchini appetizer- the best I've ever had! I had forgotten that when there's only 2 of you, you can afford to order appetizers!

-Now to the movies- how nice to choose any one we wanted because it didn't matter what time we got home! We saw Journey to the Center of the Earth. GREAT! Although, if you can go see it at one of the theaters showing it in 3D, I would do that. It's awesome either way, though.

- A little shopping at the mall, and actually trying on clothes without any kids in the dressing room with me. Another thing I think I had completely forgotten about!

- Just driving around trying to decide what to do & spotted a car show at Little Anthony's Diner. So we walked around for a little while before running into a friend of Andrew's from work & his little girl, Sasha, who's only 3 months younger than Frank. I swear, I would steal this kid if I didn't think that her parents would know who took her. Adorable doesn't even begin to describe her! We went into the diner to have a milkshake & fries- and this was my downfall! I played with Sasha for more than an hour & came down with a SERIOUS case of loneliness for my kids. But I just snuggled Sasha a little more & felt OK. Until I got home to an empty, quiet house.

-Sitting in the kids' room being sad. Wait a minute, nobody told me that after only 30 hours I'd actually want them BACK!!! Who knew?

Sunday:

- SLEEPING IN until 9:00! Sorry, we totally went apostate today & smashed the Sabbath to smithereens. There was NO WAY I was going to be able to make 8:00 church this morning. I'll have to make up for it next week.

- Andy's 4th great idea- breakfast (or is it brunch after 10:00?) at the Triple T. YUM!!! Yes, it is a truck stop, but that also means that you get trucker-size portions of the strawberry-covered waffles! OK, so the trucker-oriented service sucks, but everything has a trade-off, right?

- A little wandering through stores & window-shopping at the mall. Terrible, I know.

- By 2:00, I was so ready to go get my kids! This was the best part of my whole weekend. When we came in the door, Frank just stared at me for a minute, dropped his blanket & screamed as loud as he could! Then he did some sort of little hip-shaker dance & came running so fast that he almost knocked me over. I don't think I've ever been hugged so long or so tightly by this kid, and it was amazing. Emma just pretended to be shy & hid in the hallway until I called her. Then she came flying into my arms, too. Now that's sheer bliss!

I now understand why Andrew wants to take the kids everywhere we go. He told me that this weekend was pretty hard for him because he gets to see the kids so little as it is, that he wants to be with them every second that he's not at work. Now I can see where he's coming from, and I appreciate him sacrificing so that I could re-gain a little sanity. I knew that I loved this guy for a reason!

One thing I learned this weekend is that Andrew & I do still like each other! We didn't argue or fight or nit-pick at each other even once all weekend. I guess it's true that just having kids changes your relationship. Now I'm going to try hard every day to appreciate him more & let the stuff with the kids stay there, and not project my frustrations onto my husband. What an amazingly simple thought, but one that's definitely hard to put into practice.

So here I am, all renewed & refreshed. I'm ready for Emma to start preschool tomorrow, and I've even spent the entire day cleaning my house, with more to come after everyone gets up from naps. It's amazing what a little un-vacation can do for one's mental well-being, and I would most definitely recommend it to anyone who needs a little break.

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(I realize as I read back through this that I sound like some miserable convict that escaped from Mommy-Prison for a couple of days. Please don't think that I'm too pathetic, I just REALLY needed a break, and REALLY appreciated it when I got it!)

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Happy Very Merry Un-Vacation to me!