Up In the Air, Junior Birdmen...
Friday morning, 8:15 am, the kids and I board a 737, and by Friday afternoon, we'll be in Florida for the weekend. Yay!
My mother has a bunch of air miles, and she was trying to figure out if she could use them to get us down there for winter break. Turns out, she couldn't. Flights weren't available at that time, and both kids would have birthdays during the break, and I didn't think it would be fair to STBEW to take them away at that time. Plus, I had a bunch of freelance work already scheduled that week.
While I was looking at my calendar, something occurred to me.
"What about this weekend?" I asked. This was an unusual thing for me to ask. Historically, vacation planning in my family involves about the same amount of research and preparation that the Allies put into invading Normandy. We are not spur-of-the-moment vacationers.
"I don't have any freelance work," I continued. "If we left on Friday and came back Sunday, we could have a nice visit."
My Mother, God love her, really tried for a few minutes to come up with a reason why this wouldn't work. But then she got into the idea.
The air miles idea ended up getting scrapped. She didn't have enough miles to get all three of us down there, and the amount she would have to pay for the third ticket was actually steeper than what I found for three tickets on Priceline. And, we changed the departure date to Monday. So the kids miss two days of school. Big deal. My son's already getting letters of interest from colleges. He's in fourth grade. I think they'll be fine.
There is a small tinge of worry around the trip, though. My stepfather has prostate cancer. He's had it for years. The doctors haven't been treating it, since it was a very slow cancer, and his quality of life was unaffected by the illness. He's in his mid 80's, and the feeling was, he would most likely die from natural causes before this disease caused him any trouble.
But the last few weeks, he's been having intestinal problems. Next week he's going to be in the hospital, undergoing a series of tests.
Not mentioned, but certainly on everyone's mind, is the possibility that he may not ever come back from the hospital after this. How much of a possibility, we don't know.
He may be fine. But regardless, he'll be able to have a fun weekend with the grandkids.
I can't wait.
Yeharr
My mother has a bunch of air miles, and she was trying to figure out if she could use them to get us down there for winter break. Turns out, she couldn't. Flights weren't available at that time, and both kids would have birthdays during the break, and I didn't think it would be fair to STBEW to take them away at that time. Plus, I had a bunch of freelance work already scheduled that week.
While I was looking at my calendar, something occurred to me.
"What about this weekend?" I asked. This was an unusual thing for me to ask. Historically, vacation planning in my family involves about the same amount of research and preparation that the Allies put into invading Normandy. We are not spur-of-the-moment vacationers.
"I don't have any freelance work," I continued. "If we left on Friday and came back Sunday, we could have a nice visit."
My Mother, God love her, really tried for a few minutes to come up with a reason why this wouldn't work. But then she got into the idea.
The air miles idea ended up getting scrapped. She didn't have enough miles to get all three of us down there, and the amount she would have to pay for the third ticket was actually steeper than what I found for three tickets on Priceline. And, we changed the departure date to Monday. So the kids miss two days of school. Big deal. My son's already getting letters of interest from colleges. He's in fourth grade. I think they'll be fine.
There is a small tinge of worry around the trip, though. My stepfather has prostate cancer. He's had it for years. The doctors haven't been treating it, since it was a very slow cancer, and his quality of life was unaffected by the illness. He's in his mid 80's, and the feeling was, he would most likely die from natural causes before this disease caused him any trouble.
But the last few weeks, he's been having intestinal problems. Next week he's going to be in the hospital, undergoing a series of tests.
Not mentioned, but certainly on everyone's mind, is the possibility that he may not ever come back from the hospital after this. How much of a possibility, we don't know.
He may be fine. But regardless, he'll be able to have a fun weekend with the grandkids.
I can't wait.
Yeharr
posted by Balloon Pirate at 11:26 PM
10 Comments:
Have fun and take care!
Sounds like it's a good weekend to go visit. Hope your stepfather is feeling better -- I'm sure the kids will lift his spirits!
Still going on USAir?
I'm an over-planner, too, but a spontaneous vacation sounds like fun. Can I come? ; )
Daniel--thanks! If I ever get to England, you damn well better be in a play.
Notso--yup, we're flying Youswear. Better trip times and cheaper through Priceline than dealing with them direct. Sometimes it's good to have a middleman.
Jessica--sure! I'd love to have you come! I'm sure my mom would have no problem with me showing up with a pregnant, married woman from California! ;)
Yeharr
Great! See you in Florida.
Safe Travels! do enjoy *S*
ooo...i'm so jealous. have a great trip and hope your stepfather is feeling better! a visit from you guys is just what he needs!
Maybe not a play but I can offer you my home.
I hope everything turns out well for your family. Have a good time in FL, but don't stay too long. The collective stupidity may rub off on you.
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