Escaping The Suburbs

It doesn’t always go the way you planned. 

Our plan; one last great escape before 2011 came to a close.  The kids had a ridiculous amount of time off school…two whole weeks..and we needed a not so “spendy” way to carve out some family time together! 

It should have gone like this:

-Picture perfect Christmas.  Leave It To Beaver style.  Sorta. (with wine, Hubby cooking and me being greedy about chocolate and gifts)

-one gluttonous day in PJ’s, a Boxing Day tradition.

-three panicked hours of packing and then hit the road!

-Borrowing a gorgeous cottage on a lake for a full week of family fun.

How it really went:

-48 hours of Mama tossing her cookies I know TMI but seriously it was awful

-three more days of being as weak as a newborn kitten, and whiner then a pre-schooler an hour past nap time.

-one broken furnace (Seriously.  So now I’m cold too.  Freakin fabulous)

-a crying pathetic pity party for one siting in the bottom of the shower because I was too weak to stand up but was gettin kind of rank and needed a shower feeling like I had ruined Christmas and even the damn house was now conspiring against our almost free getaway

-finally pulling up our boot straps and my fake everything is FINE face and making a run for the lake

-Two girls, 1 cat, 1 dog, 1 unbelievably patient Husband and me. A modern suburban motely crew. *Note to fellow suburbanites: When the cat cries in his crate it is not because he is lonely and wants to play.  Do not let him out to “play”.  He shall just squat down on your floor and pee vigorously . Gagging and screaming ensues.  Pit stop required. 

-Mama ends up over doing, well, everything and is relegated to being a useless tool sitting beside a roaring fire as my dear daughters take turns repeatedly asking me “Are you feeling better now Mommy?”.  Each time getting the patented Mama response “Oh I think so Honey, Mommy just over did it today.” while silently cursing myself for dragging myself so far from pharmacy's and hospitals.

Now a reality check.  All are tucked snugly in their beds and here I sit writing my very first post for Escaping the Suburbs….anxious for 2011 to be over, thrilled for all that 2012 holds for all of us. It’s not the way I planned to get here….. but we made it.    Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches or they will truly knock you down.  Life is good and I am blessed.

I’m thankful for friends, family and readers alike!! Cheers to each of you as we usher in this New Year!  Be safe, be healthy, be joyous.  Hoping we all have a chance to Escape the Suburbs in 2012, and I will have some great adventure's to share along the way!  I can’t wait to see what the New Year will bring and where it will take us.

Much love…